Marcus Broadbent reads at the Guanghwa Bookshop in London, Britain, Jan. 24, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

 

Jack Flowers shows his newly bought simplified version of Journey to the West, one of the four classics of Chinese literature, at the Guanghwa Bookshop in London, Britain, Jan. 24, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

In the perennially busy London Chinatown, where the ongoing Lunar New Year celebrations drew large crowds, Jack Flowers ambled into a bookshop and began browsing China-themed books.

"I read things in English and in French, and China has a very different culture and history and society, and is quite appealing for that reason. Also, I like the linguistic aspect of it," Flowers, 26, a French teacher at a school in London, told Xinhua. He bought a simplified version of Journey to the West, one of the four classics of Chinese literature.

His visit to the Guanghwa Bookshop on Shaftesbury Avenue came at the opportune time when the 13th Spring Festival Joint Exhibition of Chinese Books in Global Overseas Chinese Bookstores is being held in 85 physical bookstores, including Guanghwa, in 27 countries and regions.

With the theme of "Reading China," the exhibition, organized by China's National Press and Publication Administration, displays more than 150 titles, including award-winning Chinese novels and works on China's governance.

"We hope that through this year's book exhibition, we will deliver the latest and best publications to local readers, so that they can learn more about China in the new era," said Li Tao, manager of Guanghwa Bookshop.

Marcus Broadbent, a 66-year-old retired simultaneous interpreter at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, studied Chinese in Beijing in the early 1980s and left China in 1983.

For Broadbent, who plans to revisit China soon, the books provide an excellent opportunity to reconnect with the country.

"I'm trying to pick it (the Chinese language) up because I want to go back," Broadbent said. He used to read Lu Xun, widely regarded as one of modern China's most prominent and influential writers.

Broadbent marveled at the significant changes in China during the past four decades when he was absent. Using Google Earth, the streets near the language university in Beijing where he studied were unrecognizable.

"Many skyscrapers," he said. He also recalled seeing photos of Shanghai Pudong New Area and said: "Just amazing! To me, it's just extraordinary."

Flowers told Xinhua that despite the sea change in China, there's a sense of consistency as the old finds modern expression.

He recalled using the taxi-hailing service app Cao Cao while visiting China several years ago.

He knew the company's name was drawn from Romance of the Three Kingdoms, another of the four Chinese classics.

The name was a reference to a famous Chinese saying, "speaking of Cao Cao, and he appears," ingeniously hinting at the taxis' prompt arrival.

"I thought: That makes a lot of sense. But it's funny (because) that was the sort of reference to really an old piece of literature," Flowers said.