Langfang gears up to host National Book Expo
July “inspired us to look for smaller cities”, says Yan Xiaohong, vice-minister of the Administration of Press, Langfang in North China’s Publication, Radio, Film and Hebei province, which is near Television. Beijing and Tianjin, is set to Langfang, with a populahost the 27 th National Book tion of 4.6 million, is the first Expo this summer. city in Hebei to be honored
The exhibition, which was for promoting reading, with a first held in 1980, is one of the lot of book events held in the oldest book events of its kind past three years, drawing in the country. In recent around 150,000 people. years, the expo has grown, and Publishing is an important now features talks by writers, industry in Hebei, with the reading promotion activities majority of its cultural busias well as showcasing regional nesses comprising media, culture. publishing, printing and bind
For years,ing.theeventwas mostly hosted by provincial Now, many of the former capitals around the country. small-scale printing and bindThe successful expo held in ing businesses have moved Baotou in the Inner Mongointo integrated industry parks, lia autonomous region i n and are working on green printing, digital printing and even 3-D printing.
Zhang Gujiang, vice-governor of the province, who is also on the expo’s organizing committee, says as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration plan and the 2022 Winter Olympics bring new opportunities to Hebei, the province is making efforts to further develop its economy.
“We value culture and plan to offer better public cultural services. We have 48,000 rural libraries in the province,” says Zhang.
The expo will be held at the Langfang International Convention and Exhibition Center from May 31 to June 3.
The organizers of the expo, which will cover an area of 50,000 square meters, expect 2,500 exhibitors to bring in 100,000 titles to the show. They also expect to stage 1,000 events at the expo.
Li Xiaoming, head of the provincial Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, says that besides the expo’s signature events, such as the Red Sofa Meetings, Ten Iconic Reading Figures, the Langfang show will also feature a special exhibition marking the 80 th anniversary of the Xinhua Bookstore brand.
Among the other attractions, writers born in Hebei, like Tie Ning, will meet the readers during the expo, while a book caravan has started its tour from Shijiazhuang city and will arrive in Langfang in late May, says Li.
Besides Langfang, Tangshan city will host a related exhibition at its South Lake Convention and Exhibition Center, where the 2016 Tangshan International Horticultural Exposition was held in October.
The Tangshan section will feature children’s books and intangible cultural heritage, with free entry to the venue of the horticultural expo.
As for other related events, the former revolutionary base of Xibaipo and the Baiyangdian guerilla base, two popular tourist destinations in Hebei known for their “red tourism”, will host exhibitions featuring books on the Party history and revolutionary literature.