Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

FIVE expats joined local residents at the third Shenzhen Book Fair on Saturday to celebrate the joy of reading, a cultural activity that knows no boundaries. These expats weren’t just strolling through the fair for fun, they were tasked to participate and interact with the city’s avid readers.

The five expats were given five tasks at the fair: find five publishing houses with Chinese geographical names and take photos with the names of the publishing houses.

They also had to sell a foreign-language book to citizens, choose a book in the fair they wanted to buy the most and film a short video explaining why they wanted to buy it.

They were also tasked to find five IP comic images such as Peppa Pig, Peter Rabbit and Marvel comics, and take photos with related books. Lastly, they needed to take a photo with the Shenzhen Book Fair logo at the fair’s entrance.

David Bowman, a Canadian who is currently studying Chinese at Shenzhen University, was the fastest to sell a foreign-language book to a citizen. “I think that part was easy. If they give us some books and we have to try to sell one, that would be more difficult,” he said.

“You can see some people who are interested in books and if you ask them if they are going to buy a book, then look at the book and recommend it to them,” Bowman explained how he successfully sold the book.

Bowman expressed his surprise at the book fair’s large turnout, which he believes demonstrates people’s interest in learning and reading.

While completing all tasks was a fascinating experience, Rafael Saavedra from Venezuela was also taken aback by the sheer volume and variety of books available at the Shenzhen Book Fair.

“I didn’t know it was this big and in open space. Encouraging people to read and develop a reading habit is really important,” Saavedra said.

Yasin Muhammad, a Pakistani optical engineering Ph.D. student at Shenzhen University, said the book fair was well organized and it was beneficial for residents to meet friends and discover some interesting books.

The third Shenzhen Book Fair, which began Nov. 20 and ended yesterday, was part of the annual Shenzhen Reading Month. The book fair was held at the west square of Shenzhen Book City CBD Store in Futian District.