A book feast for the eyes

Wang Guiying, vice-mayor of Jinan, says the city has been busy making preparations for the expo, and the government will offer free book vouchers worth 5 million yuan ($778,000) to the city's booklovers to encourage them to purchase books and other relevant products.

Wang says the expo will feature more than 600 events including 10 key forums deemed as the expo's traditional gathering, 100 book launches and writers events, and more than 500 cultural events with a local touch. The writers events will feature Shandong writers including the novelist and poet Zhang Wei, and history writer and lecturer Yan Chongnian.

"We'll also present an exhibition of 100 Red Classics Throughout a Century to mark the big day of the Party's centennial," Wang adds.

As this is the city's second time hosting the national book expo-the first being in 2009, the organizers say they would present a contemporary expo capable of attracting readers from varied age groups.

In light of challenges in an ongoing pandemic, the expo will also go digital for the first time.