【Great Bay Observation】
Guangming Daily reporter Dang Wenting Yan Shenghe
Since ancient times, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have the same history and humanities affinity, and have many complementary and common prosperity in the field of culture and art. In recent years, with the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the cultural integration of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao has also become more and more in-depth, for example, during the shenzhen reading month, an annual cultural event in Shenzhen, more and more cultural activities jointly held by Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao, attracting wide participation of the people of the three places.
What are the reading habits of Hong Kong and Macao readers, which books do they like, and how can they further promote the cultural integration of the Greater Bay Area through reading promotion activities? In this regard, the reporter interviewed Ip Pei-chu, general manager of Hong Kong Sanlian Bookstore, Lui Chi-peng, director of the Public Library Management Department of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government, and Tang Jianyuan, general manager of China Commerce and Trade Corporation, a major book import and export institution in Hong Kong and the mainland.
1. Young people in Hong Kong and Macao have good reading habits and high reading needs
According to the Hong Kong Publishing Society's "National Reading Survey Report" for several consecutive years, 80% of people under the age of 40 maintain the habit of reading physical printed books; among young people around the age of 18, some can read more than 20 books a year. Excluding cartoons and textbooks, the median reading time of Hong Kong youth is 3 hours per week, of which more than 60% read 1 to 3 hours a week, and 21.8% read more than 7 hours a week, which shows that the reading habits of Young people in Hong Kong are still good. Ye Peizhu said, but nearly 20% of people have not read a book in a year, reflecting the polarization of the Reading Habits of the Hong Kong masses, resulting in a relatively large gap in knowledge content and cultural literacy.
Reading Chronicle: The scene of the high-end dialogue activity of the editor-in-chief of "Reading Magazine" in mainland Hong Kong. Profile picture
In Macau, which is located on the other side of the Pearl River estuary, the number of public library visitors reached 2.16 million in 2020, and the number of people who borrowed books in the whole year was more than 170,000. In Lu Zhipeng's view, although this ratio looks relatively low, the absolute value of reading is not low. "We have designed a 'drifting book' shelf in each library, if the reader feels that it is inconvenient to borrow, they can directly buy the book back to read." According to statistics, between 17,000 and 30,000 books are 'floating' out of each library every year. "Lu Zhipeng said that this is only the data of buying books from the library, and the data of online shopping and other channels has not yet been counted." It shows that now that the economic level has gone up, people's borrowing habits have changed, but the demand for reading is still very high. ”
2. Paper reading and electronic reading are parallel, and integration and communication are increasing
In terms of reading content, Hong Kong youth prefer novels, essays and articles related to current affairs, and read less content such as cartoons and illustrations. "It has to do with the supply of content. At present, young people generally read on paper and e-reading in parallel, but Hong Kong's e-reading platforms provide less image content. Ye Peizhu said.
"An interesting phenomenon is that the biggest sales growth in Hong Kong in recent years is the popular books related to the big IP of mainland film and television dramas, such as the science fiction novel "The Wandering Earth" and the previous popular literature "Langya List" and "Step by Step"." Tang Jianyuan said that this shows that the mainland's culture has undergone more and more exchanges with Hong Kong in a subtle way.
In April 2021, the Macao Spring Book Fair was full of books. Xinhua News Agency
"Young readers in Macau prefer to read novels, such as traditional Chinese literature or Hong Kong and Taiwan novels, such as 'Dream of the Red Chamber' and Jin Yong's works, which are very popular." Lu Zhipeng said that another feature is that with the continuous integration of cultures, not only the literary exchanges between writers are very close, but more and more readers have begun to favor mainland leisure novels, such as "Douluo Continent" and other fantasy works. At the same time, Macao readers are also reading more and more books in simplified characters. "When we first returned, the simplified chinese books in our collection were not even a dozen, but now they have doubled, and with the development of the mainland's publishing industry in the future, I believe that the share of simplified character books will continue to increase."
"In addition, we have noticed that more and more English books and art books are being exported to Hong Kong. On the one hand, the mainland has continuously improved its degree of integration with the international community in recent years, and the market volume has continued to increase, which has greater advantages in the introduction of copyright; on the other hand, there are many art institutions and scientific research institutes in the mainland, which can provide different research perspectives. Tang Jianyuan said, "Hong Kong publishing houses have the advantages of high flexibility and low cost in reprinting out-of-print books, and have formed a good complementary advantage with the mainland, which also fully reflects the integration and exchange of cultures between the two places and the complementarity of each other."" ”
3. The bay area cities are linked, and the sharing of reading and sharing promotes cultural inheritance
Reading for all plays an important role in creating a bookish atmosphere and advocating a learning society. As a "Global Reading Model City for All" awarded by UNESCO, Shenzhen's achievements in the field of reading promotion for all have also attracted exchanges and in-depth interaction between Hong Kong and Macao.
"In the past, we felt that The reading promotion in Macao was doing a good job, for example, on World Reading Day on April 23 every year, the Macao Public Library would hold the 'Macao Library' Week, bringing the 'good book exchange' and 'hot journal sale' that were popular with the public on the promotion day, and there were book fairs, booth games and story activities to attract the active participation of citizens of different ages; every year we will also actively go to schools and civil society to promote reading culture. The 600 events are abundant compared to Macau, a city of more than 600,000 people. Lu Zhipeng said, but now, he clearly feels that the reading promotion of some mainland cities has gradually surpassed Macao, such as Shenzhen's reading services to build a "library city" are becoming more and more meticulous, and the good reading atmosphere makes the people in the mainland more concerned about culture.
Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao read the carnival activities. Profile picture
To this end, in recent years, the Macao Public Library has held the "Reading Together in the City" activity on World Reading Day, through linkage with Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Hong Kong and other cities, so that the fragrance of books overflows to all places and enhances the interaction and exchange of the people; in addition, it also follows the custom of the ancients in China to dry books in early autumn and prevent mildew, and holds the "Good Book Sunshine" activity, hoping to reproduce the cultural grand situation of the ancient exhibition of rare classics in the pavilion and the literati and inkers talking about art and learning.
"I am very envious of Shenzhen today to have such a good national reading promotion activities, this fine fashion has penetrated into every corner, the entire city's cultural construction and civilization have been greatly improved." I have always hoped that Hong Kong can learn from Shenzhen and be led by the government to promote reading for all. "In her opinion, because Hong Kong has always regarded the publishing industry as a pure market business in the past, there is little relevant policy support, and only public libraries will do some reading promotion activities, but the intensity is quite lacking." Although there are also book fairs in Hong Kong, they are actually purely commercial-oriented exhibitions, and due to the need to consider the high cost of stall fees, they have to consider the scale and selection of books from a commercial point of view. World Reading Day activities are also limited to the industry of libraries, publishing houses and bookstores. ”
In this regard, Ye Peizhu suggested that it is hoped that regular urban reading activities can be held, and each city will jointly read a book with a wide range of themes and contents, such as China's history, culture, national conditions, etc., and invite experts from the three places to do some guidance, encourage young people to read and share book reviews and impressions through online and offline channels. "Because reading a book can connect past experiences with views on the present and the future, it is very helpful for young people to understand each other, and we hope to promote our cultural inheritance through such exchanges and integration," she said. ”
Guangming Daily ( 2022-01-11 07 edition)
Source: Guangming Daily