Reading is the new black for celebrating the Spring Festival. 

Hangzhou Neighborhood Reading Space in the Charm City Community, Shangcheng District of Hangzhou, recently held a reading-themed activity to welcome the Spring Festival. Huang Xiaojian, inheritor of the state-level intangible heritage of woodblock printing technique, was on site to show participants how to do woodblock printing. Participants dipped brushes in ink and put it evenly on pearwood block. Then, they placed red paper symbolizing good fortune for the New Year on the block, and press the paper, finishing New Year paintings with different images such as the God of Door and the God of Fortune. 

Faculty from Dongcheng Experiment School of Hangzhou Normal University also wrote Spring Festival couplets or character “fu” (good fortune) and presented them to locals. 

“We have self-help book machines of the District Library and a reading space. We also hold reading activities, free of charge, such as lectures on Chinese classics targeting children and young people, reading salon targeting the youth, and classic dancing class for senior residents,” said Tang Xiaolu, head of the Neighborhood Reading Space. 

The Neighborhood Reading Space in Shangcheng District covers an area of more than 1,100 square meters. It has a collection of over 1,000 books. Books from public libraries of Hangzhou can be borrowed and returned in the space. 

“There are 90 neighborhood reading space locations built in communities and neighborhoods across Hangzhou’s 13 district-level areas. The figure is expected to reach 160 amid our efforts to expand the reach of our public library services particularly at the primary level. By making use of these easy-to-access and cozy reading locations, we aim to offer local residents with free book borrowing and returning services and public cultural activities,” said Liu Dong, chief librarian of Hangzhou Library.  

More cultural activities including reading salons, calligraphy and Chinese painting events and Song style cultural experience will be held in neighborhood reading space across Hangzhou in celebration of the Spring Festival.