The launch event for the Chinese theatrical production, Faust.[Photo provided to China Daily]

With final rehearsals underway, a new stage adaptation of Goethe's epic two-part tragedy Faust is set to tour the nation, starring Silver Bear-winning actor Liao Fan.

Is there a book you never truly finish reading? For Chinese actor Liao Fan, the book is Goethe's Faust, which he bought while he was studying acting at the Shanghai Theatre Academy.

"It's a classic and I started with a few pages after I bought it. I didn't quite understand it so I put it on my bookshelf for years," says Liao, who was born in Changsha, Hunan province and studied at the Shanghai Theatre Academy from 1993 to 1997.