28th National Book Expo returning to Shenzhen

A press conference on the 28th National Book Expo is held in the host city of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on July 9. [Photo/sz.gov.cn]

The 28th National Book Expo will be held in Shenzhen from July 19 to 22, exhibiting 200,000 books at its main venue, the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, according to a press conference held on July 9.

The book trading event is held in a different city each year. This will be the first time Shenzhen has hosted the event since 1996.

The main venue will be a 50,000-square-meter exhibition area in Halls 1, 2 and 5 of the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center. A total of 800,000 books will also be exhibited at five sub-venues located in various bookstores belonging to the Shenzhen Publishing and Circulation Group.

Organizers will exhibit books based on the various demands and different reading habits across different regions. The Book City Luohu store will mainly exhibit books on the humanities and social sciences, the Nanshan and Futian stores will feature books for youngsters, Bao'an plans to turn the fair into a reading carnival, while the Longgang store, as the first intelligence-based Book City, will hold the Intelligence and Book Industry Development Forum.

The book expo in Shenzhen coincides with the 29th Hong Kong Book Fair, an influential book fair that will be held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Center.

Free shuttle bus services will be offered during the book expo, enabling book lovers to commute easily between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. 

Free entrance

Aiming to promote reading among all residents, admission to the book expo in Shenzhen will be free of charge. Visitors can get tickets at the customer service centers of the five sub-venues by showing a valid photo ID.

Participants can also reserve tickets by scanning QR codes and following the fair's WeChat account,quanminyuedu. Tickets are limited, so visitors are advised to get their tickets as early as possible.

The ticket-booking system is in Chinese, so expats who do not speak the language can either get tickets online on the day of their visit with the help of volunteers at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, or in advance with help from Chinese-speaking friends.

The organizing committee sent out 400,000 tickets to primary and secondary schools all around Shenzhen to encourage student participation. 

A total of 60,000 free tickets to the National Book Expo will also be distributed at book stores, libraries and public places in several cities near Shenzhen, including Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macao.

The main venue will be open to visitors from 09:00 am to 05:30 pm during the expo, with the closing time pushed back to 10:00pm on July 20 (Friday) and 21 (Saturday).

Diverse activities

Apart from exhibiting and trading books, the National Book Expo will feature more than 420 other activities, including new book launches, book salons, writing exchanges and forums.

More than 150 authors in various fields will be invited to the four-day book fair in Shenzhen to give talks, share their insights or participate in forums, including Hong Kong-based gourmet writer Chua Lam, children's literature writer Cao Wenxuan, and CCTV hostess Wang Xuechun.

Special activities to enhance exchanges in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will also be held, focusing on the Greater Bay Area's future plans and global position, as well as literature development.