The 2017 South China Book Festival and the Canton Book Fair ended yesterday in Guangzhou. The five-day event took place at the Canton Fair Complex, covering an area of 40,000 square meters.
This year, there was a more diverse range of exhibition halls including a Hong Kong-Macau-Taiwan Hall, Canton Book Fair Hall, Digital Publishing Hall and a Picture Book Hall.
This was the second year that Macau was included in an exhibition hall.
Special areas were set up for 14 reading promotion agencies to stage activities.
Over 300 cultural activities were organized at the festival and more than 350 celebrities and literati were present to speak with visitors including writers Wang Meng, Su Tong, Geling Yan and columnist Chua Lam.
The theme of the festival this year was “reading as an attitude towards life.”
In addition, reading nights were held over the weekend, where visitors experienced cultural activities across different themes. On Friday, a reading talent show with the theme “the journey of a book” was held featuring special guests reading books and articles.
On Saturday, an activity titled “24 hour reading plan” was staged, during which visitors had the chance to speak with VIP guests face to face. On Sunday, there were stage performances including modern drama, street dance and cosplay.
The organizer also established 17 “bookcrossing” sites in Guangdong during the event to encourage people to read and share books. People could borrow and exchange books at any of the 17 locations and return them at any of the other points.
Satellite venues brought the festival to 13 other cities around Guangdong, including Zhuhai, Foshan and Zhongshan.
