Reading can build bridges between life and history, improve the spiritual wellbeing of individuals and pave the way for future development, many people said on National Reading Day, which was celebrated on April 23 this year.

National Reading Day also took place concurrently with World Book and Copyright Day.

At the opening ceremony of the event in Jincheng city, Shanxi province, local cultural officials said that while enhancing the spiritual life of the people, reading can help to develop a culturally strong province and build a civilized society.

The promotion of reading among the public has been referred to in the Government Work Report for 13 consecutive years.

A national regulation on promoting reading among the public took effect on Feb 1, designating the fourth week of April as the Week of Reading Among the Public.

在今年4月23日“世界读书日”来临之际，许多人表示，阅读能贯通生活与历史，丰盈个体心灵，更为未来开辟前路。

这一天既是全国读书日，也是世界图书与版权日。

在山西省晋城市举办的活动开幕式上，当地文化官员表示，阅读不仅丰富人民精神生活，也助力文化强省建设，与社会文明程度的提高紧密相连。

“全民阅读”一词已连续13年被写入中国的政府工作报告。

《全民阅读促进条例》于今年2月1日正式施行，明确将每年4月的第四周设立为“全民阅读活动周”。

A meeting for shared reading experiences among primary school pupils, hosted by the Xiangfen County Library, is held on a rapeseed farm on April 16.

As reading has been a popular activity in Shanxi, the province launched a large-scale reading campaign, with a duration longer than the national reading week.

A core part of the campaign, the 2026 Shanxi Conference for Promoting Reading among the Public, opened on April 16 in Jincheng city. A range of activities, including exchanges among readers, recitals of poems and classics, as well as forums and seminars, were held throughout the North China province, during a nine-day period ending on April 24.

Jincheng's Longma Lake Park was the main venue of the event. A series of dramas adapted from textbook stories attracted the participation from local students.

Duan Beichen, a third-grade student, said: "With so many sought-after books on display and so many dramas on show here, the experience is both fun and inspirational."

在文化大省山西，阅读正成为一种流行的生活方式。为此，山西省启动了规模宏大的阅读活动，活动时间甚至长于全国阅读周。

作为此次活动的核心部分，2026年山西省全民阅读大会暨全民阅读活动周于4月16日在晋城市举办。在为期九天的活动期间，山西省举行了包括读者交流、经典诗歌朗诵以及论坛研讨等一系列丰富多彩的活动 。 

全民阅读大会主会场设在晋城市龙马湖公园。一系列课本剧展演吸引了当地学生的参与。 

晋城市古书院矿小学五年级三班的学生段贝晨表示：“这里既有好看的节目，又有好玩的体验，还能学到好多知识。”

A drama adapted from a novel by Zhao Shuli is staged in the writer's home village of Yuchi on April 17.

'People's writer'

The Longma Lake Park event also featured Shanxi writer Zhao Shuli (1906-70), who was renowned throughout the country as a "people's writer". His novels depict rural life in Shanxi and the rest of China. Books written by Zhao and those winning the Zhao Shuli Prizes for Literature over the past decades were exhibited at the park.

As this year marks the 120th anniversary of Zhao's birth, an event to commemorate the writer was held in Yuchi village in Jincheng's Qinshui county, the birthplace of Zhao. An event to promote reading among rural children was part of this celebration.

"In the novels written by Zhao, there had been a constant concern about literacy improvement and knowledge accessibility among rural residents, especially the children," said a local teacher. "Here we are offered an opportunity to share Zhao's works and stories with our students, hoping the tradition of reading and learning advocated by Zhao can be passed on to our future generations."

人民作家

龙马湖公园的活动聚焦了被誉为“人民作家”的山西籍作家赵树理（1906-1970）。他的小说多以农村为背景，反映农村社会的变迁。市民们在活动现场可以重温赵树理的经典作品，还能看到历届“赵树理文学奖”获奖作品。

2026年恰逢赵树理先生诞辰120周年，纪念活动在他的故乡——晋城市沁水县尉迟村举行。为农村少年儿童推广阅读也是此次纪念活动的重要组成部分。“在赵树理的小说中，他始终关注提升农村居民，特别是孩子们的识字率和知识普及率，”一位当地教师说，“在这里，我们有机会与学生们分享赵树理的作品和故事，希望他倡导的阅读和学习传统能代代相传。”

The Nangong outlet of Xinhua Bookstore in Taiyuan features a modern, visually appealing design.

A quiet place

Inside the reading room, there is a dedicated wall for readers to write their thoughts and insights on reading and offer words of encouragement to others. "This is an expression of care, which represents an active force helping people move ahead," said the visitor.

Located by the Fenhe River, Taiyuan Library not only boasts a full range of collections — from social to natural sciences, and ancient literature to modern books — but also has services catering to various age groups.

For instance, it has a section dedicated to young readers ranging from kindergarteners to middle school students. The section has classified its collections according to not only subjects, but also readers' ages.

宁静的角落

许多当地居民在下班后或周末来这里享受难得的宁静与专注。“这是一个安静的地方，能让你专心阅读，”一位游客说，“看书累了，透过落地玻璃窗将室外的湖光山色尽收眼底，还能够放松眼睛。” 

文瀛城市书房的一面墙上，有读者写下了各种励志的话或阅读感悟。“这是一种关怀的表达，代表着一种充满温暖人文气息和向上的力量，”这位游客表示。 

汾河畔的太原市图书馆同样藏书丰富、种类齐全，从古籍善本到现代畅销读物，从社会科学到自然科学，满足了不同群体对知识的渴望，同时还提供满足不同年龄段需求的服务。

例如，图书馆内设有专为幼儿园至中学生等年轻读者打造的区域。该区域不仅按学科对藏书进行分类，还根据读者的年龄进行了划分。

Taiyuan Library has a reading area dedicated to children. 

For younger children, the reading room is decorated with colors and furniture that can easily draw their interest. There are also dedicated teachers to guide their reading.

Another highlight of the library is that it has established a workshop on Marxism, catering to readers interested in such studies. The workshop has 22,000 copies of books, including classics in various languages and research works on Marxism.

In cooperation with grassroots public institutions, Taiyuan Library has established more than 50 Marxism workshops in communities throughout the city, arousing public interest in such studies.

Through the use of digital technologies, Taiyuan Library has an online library system, allowing readers throughout the province to access its resources. And there are also online workshops for readers to share their reading experiences and insights.

对于年龄较小的孩子，亲子阅读区内色彩斑斓的书架、可爱的卡通座椅吸引着他们的兴趣，还有专业的老师指导孩子们阅读。

图书馆的另一大亮点是设立了马克思书房，专门服务于对相关研究感兴趣的读者。该书房藏有2.2万册书籍，包括多语种的经典著作及马克思主义研究文献。

太原市图书馆还与基层公共机构合作，在全市各社区建立了50多个马克思书房，激发了公众对这类研究的兴趣。 

借助数字技术，太原市图书馆等机构拓展了线上阅读平台，使全省读者都能访问其海量资源，此外，图书馆还举办线上读书分享会，让读者交流阅读经验与心得。

Grassroots facilities

Even more popular among readers are the grassroots cultural facilities, with some scattered along the booming commercial streets.

The Bell Tower Academy is one such facility. Combining the functions of a library, bookstore and research academy, this place is mostly frequented by tourists because it offers comprehensive reading materials about the history, culture and life in Shanxi.

"When you arrive in Taiyuan, the first leg of your Shanxi tour, getting familiar with the basic information about this culture-rich province is the homework you need to do," said a visitor to the Bell Tower Academy.

基层设施

各类基层文化设施深受读者青睐，其中一部分已嵌入蓬勃发展的商业街区，成为便民阅读的据点。

位于太原市钟楼街的“钟楼书院”，便是这样一个静谧空间。它融合了图书馆、书店和研究机构的功能，提供了大量山西历史、文化和风土人情的读物，吸引了许多游客驻足。

“来到太原，开启山西之旅的第一站，你得先把这个文化大省的家底摸透——这可是来钟楼书院必做的功课。”一位游客说道。

The Zheshui Library is one of many reading spaces scattered across the rural areas of Jincheng.

Combining reading with tourism is an innovative practice in Shanxi. On Oct 18, 2024, the transport authorities in Shanxi announced the operation of three sightseeing highways that link 5,630 villages in 113 counties, districts and cities in the province.

As a result, an increasing number of tourists have flocked to these destinations over the past two years. Upon arrival, tourists discover that many villages have reading facilities dedicated to tourism, a feature that can seldom be found in other parts of the country.

Yang Kexin, a schoolgirl from Xinxiang city, Henan province, recently visited destinations at the heart of the Taihang Mountains in Jincheng's Lingchuan county, along with her parents.

In Zheshui village, what instantly attracted the girl's attention was a rustic, yet uniquely designed library standing near the entrance of a destination.

Yang found that this was a simple house with shale walls. Inside the house, there were stone tables and stools surrounded by bookshelves along the walls.

"My first impression is that here we are brought back to the Paleolithic Age," Yang said, adding that reading in such an environment is quite a novel experience.

The girl said novelty is not the only thing she cares about. "There are books with information and stories of our planned destinations, which are helpful for our travel."

将阅读与旅游结合是山西的一项创新举措。2024年10月18日，山西交通部门宣布旅游公路全线贯通，连通全省11市113个县（市、区），覆盖5630个村庄。

在过去两年里，越来越多的游客涌向这些目的地。游客们到达后发现，一些旅游公路沿线村庄，依托自然资源建起了特色阅读空间，这在全国其他地方是很少见的。 

来自河南新乡的小姑娘杨可馨，最近和父母一起游览了位于太行山腹地的晋城市陵川县的旅游景点。 

在浙水村，最吸引她注意的是一座充满乡村气息又设计独特的特色页岩书屋。 那是一座由页岩垒砌而成的简易房屋，屋内沿墙立着书架，中间摆放着石桌石凳。

“第一眼感觉像是穿越回了旧石器时代，”杨可馨说，“在这样的环境里读书既有趣又新奇。” 

这个女孩表示，新奇并不是她唯一在意的。“这里有很多介绍沿途景点和历史故事的书，对我们规划行程特别有帮助。”

She mentioned the ancient Chinese proverb, "traveling thousands of miles and reading thousands of books", saying that "the combination of reading and travel — or practice — is the best way to gain knowledge of the world".

"And here is an example of combining reading with practice," she said.

The rural libraries are beneficial not only to tourists, but to local residents as well.

In Jincheng city, every administrative village has at least one library, with total collections amounting to more than 3 million copies.

"In Jincheng, we are engaging more than 1 million rural residents in reading," said a local official. "In the rural libraries, they can find knowledge useful for farming and they can read for fun. This is something that can broaden their horizons and make life meaningful."

她提到了中国的一句古话：“读万卷书，行万里路”，她认为“阅读与旅行相结合，是获取知识的最佳方式。”

“这里就是将阅读与实践相结合的一个例子，”她说道。

这些农村书屋不仅惠及游客，也让当地居民受益匪浅。

在晋城市，像陵川这样的农村书屋在行政村实现了全覆盖，图书总藏量突破300万册。

“在晋城，阅读活动惠及农民群众百万人次，”当地一位官员说。“农家书屋兼具实用技能与休闲阅读功能，有效拓展了村民的视野，丰富了精神文化生活。