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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Opinion -> 
A book fair for children
    2018-07-23  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

Priyanka Sharma

consultpriyanka1@gmail.com

EVER since I heard about the 28th National Book Expo, I had been dreaming about roaming through those stalls decorated with beautiful books, the piles upon piles of art and literature and all of it for me to plunder.

So, when the book expo started Thursday, I didn’t waste a minute of my time and was on my way to the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center. The fact that the expo started on a weekday made it easier to travel and I was expecting less crowd and hence smooth sailings.

But the scene was totally different from what I had imagined. The minute I got out of the metro station, there was a sea of children dotted with a few adults and they seem to have the same destination as I.

There was no queue at the entrance and I was through the security check in no time. Inside there were even more of these little people. What was going on? Why are these kids not in school? I wondered and then I got the answer to my question.

The 28th National Book Expo seemed to be geared towards kids and young adults.

Hall 1 had an even spread of academic and non-academic books for children. Publishers and distributors from all over China seems to be there and everybody had something to offer these curious little readers running through aisles looking for their next read while adults tried to strike a bargain with the sellers.

One could spot buyers from language training centers and other institutions looking for teaching material.

The ones that I liked the most were the colorful picture books of Western children’s stories, including “Gulliver’s Travels,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Tom Sawyer,” translated into Chinese along with pinyin to assist readers with pronunciations.

Literature for young adults was also in abundance.

There were quite a few rows of heavily discounted but also quite disorganized books on the right side towards the back in Hall 1 and if one took the time to go through them, there were treasures to be found.

I found some really beautiful Chinese art work collections and an illustrated copy of “Inside-out” in English and I must say it was a steal.

Hall 2 had a few stalls selling children’s games, educational and entertaining both and more illustrated Children’s books.

I bought a couple of flip books and a set of building blocks for my nephews.

All the three Hall 1, 2 and 5 had lively debates and lectures going on and despite being a work day, a decent crowd seemed interested in what the speakers had to say.

All in all, if you are Chinese with or without children, an expat English teacher or a Chinese language student, or an expat with young kids in school, the expo deserved a few hours of your time. However, if you were looking for English books, you would find the expo a bit of a disappointment.

(The author is an aspiring writer with a passion for travel and photography.)

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