Decorations to mark the 23rd Shenzhen Reading Month are seen at the Shenzhen Book City CBD Store in Futian District. Wang Haolan
The 23rd Shenzhen Reading Month featuring more than 2,300 activities was officially launched at the Shenzhen Book City CBD Store in Futian District on Saturday morning, igniting residents’ enthusiasm for reading.
Themed “New Chapter of the Time, New Paradigm for Civilization,” this reading month has set up three special sections for science, culture and art to showcase Shenzhen’s urban spirit. Shenzhen Party chief Meng Fanli and other senior officials attended the opening ceremony.
At the launching ceremony, Xu Yangsheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the president of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, delivered a speech about the scientific, humanistic and artistic spirit that a modern city needs for development.
Experts and scholars have been invited to the monthlong event to share presentations on themes such as defining the scientific spirit, explaining the cultivation of values in the digital age, understanding the relationship of music and life, and the role of aesthetic quality in the digital age.
A series of activities featuring five dialogues and two exhibitions have been organized to further promote the connectivity between Shenzhen and Hong Kong in the context of cultural connection, cultural integration, mutual benefit and common prosperity.
Top 10 books and top 10 children’s books will be selected to provide recommended high-quality book lists to the public.
In addition, the fourth Shenzhen Book Fair will be held simultaneously during this reading month.
First launched in 2000, Shenzhen Reading Month has been held every November. It had held over 10,000 cultural activities over the years and created well-received representative activities such as the Shenzhen Reading Forum, classic poetry and prose recitations, and the annual selection of the top 10 good books.
Shenzhen was honored with the title of “global model for the promotion of reading” by UNESCO in 2013. According to a report on Shenzhen citizens’ reading for 2022, which was issued this April, Shenzheners read more than 1.5 hours a day on average.