Readers attend a lecture at the Time Reading Club in Yuanping of Xinzhou, Shanxi province. [PHOTO BY LIU JIANCHUN/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Together we grow

In May 2016, the Yuanping Library opened its door to Fu's reading club. The library's meeting room can hold 150 people.

"At first, what everyone shared was based on their reading," Fu says.

Then, the club participants explored further afield, from Shijing to the classic novel The Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and Tao Te Ching written by Laozi, a philosopher from ancient China, to works by Greek thinker Socrates and other foreign classics.

For the purpose of expanding exchanges and strengthening communication, the club organized a national essay contest themed around "a book and my life" in June 2018 and received more than 1,400 submissions from all over China. This stimulated nationwide public discussions about the role of reading in life.

As of mid-September, the club had read and discussed topics focused on 100 classics. And the club is no longer just a local affair, as many of its club members now come from outside Yuanping, some from Taiyuan, the provincial capital, or other nearby cities of Shanxi province.

One of the regular participants, Han Yanqing, 46, has followed the reading club for years.

She used to work as a receptionist at a local hotel in Yuanping and joined the club to expand her knowledge.

Han says she often found herself at a loss when the hotel guests would inquire about the local history and specialties of Yuanping. As Fu noticed, Han was often an early arrival and took the front seat, listening attentively and taking notes from time to time.

Years of participation has increased her knowledge about the county-level city and allowed her to more effectively deal with guests' requests.

Even though Han was promoted to the hotel's headquarters in downtown Xinzhou, where she now takes charge of employee training, every Tuesday, Han returns to Yuanping to attend the sessions held at the reading club.

"The club has offered me, an ordinary reader, a place to study and grow," Han says. "It helps me better understand my responsibilities in life."

More than 1,000 people have participated in the club's projects and hundreds of articles were published in literary periodicals and journals, raising the club's profile in Shanxi province and beyond.

Each kindness

In addition to literature, the club also offers an open platform for enthusiasts in photography, calligraphy, painting, music and recitation. It helps showcase talent, and carries out social services including charity events－donating reading rooms and money to school children in underdeveloped areas.

To date, the club has donated more than 100,000 yuan ($14,930) for those in need, such as children with leukemia or autism, as well as college students from poverty-stricken families.

Fu was named as a deputy to the Xinzhou people's congress in 2016 and a nominee of the "top 10 readers" award organized by the National Press and Publication Administration in 2019.

Du Xuewen, chairman of the Shanxi Writers' Association, says people find the meaning and value of life in reading, and the club has been an ideal place for sharing their ideas and holding discussions.

Looking back, Fu did not expect the club to be such a sensation.

"I started the project to enrich my knowledge through reading, but now I find I have little time for my own hobby," Fu says, adding that making schedules, seeking and inviting suitable guest lecturers, updating news feeds for the club's social account and transcribing lecture content for release is all very time-consuming.

But, whenever Fu sees a big audience turnout, she feels that all of the effort is worth it.

"I'm fortunate that I have so many friends who all share the same interests," Fu says.

"Without their collective devotion, the Time Reading Club won't be here today."