On April 23, the 3rd National Reading Conference opened in Kunming, Yunnan Province. At the opening ceremony, Wang Ning, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, specifically mentioned a public welfare bookstore in Fengyu Town, Eryuan County, Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, "Zeng Zeng's Book House", which attracted more than 20 local children to become "little fans" of reading. Through many media, a small village bookstore has come into the public eye.
A public welfare bookstore located in Fengyu Town, Eryuan County, Dali Prefecture - "Zeng Zeng's Book House". Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Dali Prefecture Party Committee
The Invisible "Seed"
Located in Fotang Village, Fengyu Town, "Zeng Zeng's Book House" is a public welfare bookstore that does not sell books and is open to tourists and villagers for free. The bookstore has a collection of more than 6,000 books donated by all walks of life, including children's books, literature, history, aesthetics, philosophy, art and other books with humanities education as the core. The founder of the bookstore is Zeng Lixia, the host of Dali TV.
Zeng Lixia, the founder of "Zeng Zeng's Book House", shared her reading with the children. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
"If the most important goal in life is to learn to love others and gain knowledge. There's no better way for me than to be a bookstore. In March 2022, Zeng Lixia posted this passage in the circle of friends, announcing that she would soon open a bookstore in Fotang Village, Fengyu Town.
Zeng Lixia, who was born in the countryside, likes to read since she was a child, but suffers from the lack of books in the countryside. "When I was a child, my teacher made me a librarian, gave me a key, opened up another world for me, and since then I have had the dream of making a book house. ”
In 2018, by chance, Zeng Lixia participated in a cultural project in Fotang Village, Fengyu Town, and thus became attached to this "paradise"-like place.
There are more than 20 children in Fotang Village, Fengyu Town, most of whom are left-behind children. Seeing that many left-behind children in the local area are mostly on TV and lack company after school, Zeng Lixia came up with a bold idea: to set up a book house that does not sell books, open to villagers for free, and also provide free borrowing for children in the village.
Children explore the unknown world in the book. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
"I hope that the guests who come to Fengyu can come here to sit and sit, no need to check in and take pictures, just simply find a book they like, put down their mobile phones, and read quietly. Zeng Lixia has another expectation for the bookstore, hoping that it will become Feng Yu's "living room", and the outside world will use it as a medium to connect with this village.
At the beginning of the preparation of the bookstore, Zeng Lixia felt the positive energy of the link through the bookstore: a friend provided her ancestral house in Fotang Village as a venue for free, local villagers sent their own wooden staircase, and Dangdang donated 3,000 books...... In July 2022, the "Zeng Zeng's Book House" was officially completed and opened to the public.
Audible "Echoes"
After the completion of the "Zeng Zeng's Book House", it not only attracted "little fans" of Fotang Village, but also children from neighboring villages who were led by their grandparents or rode their own bicycles. When children finish their homework, they read, discuss, and imagine the world outside the small village.
Children explore the unknown world in the book. Photo courtesy of the Propaganda Department of the Dali Prefecture Party Committee
In addition to providing a place for children to read, the book house will also hold regular reading sharing activities to broaden the horizons of rural children.
Zeng Lixia, the founder of "Zeng Zeng's Book House", shared her reading with the children. Photo courtesy of the interviewee
By chance, Zeng Lixia found that the children had a strong interest in a picture of the original appearance of the Old Summer Palace in the bookstore, and in order to satisfy the children's curiosity, she contacted experts in Beijing through the circle of friends, and carried out a video connection with the children with the theme of "The Past and Present Life of the Old Summer Palace", building a bridge between rural children and the outside world.
Children study the original appearance of the Old Summer Palace in the "Zeng Zeng's Book House". Photo courtesy of the interviewee
The Eryuan County People's Procuratorate has also jointly carried out public welfare projects with the bookstore, regularly inviting experts to combine psychological counseling, natural science learning and reading, and constantly moving the "position" of preventing juvenile delinquency in a moisturizing and silent way...... and the "Zeng Zeng's bookstore" has more and more carrying functions.
Children learn about local traditional culture at the "Zengzeng's Book House". Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Since its establishment more than two years ago, the bookstore has received donations from government departments, caring enterprises and book lovers, and has a cumulative collection of more than 6,000 books. Zeng Lixia has invested more than 20 yuan to decorate the bookstore and recruit management personnel. Children fall in love with reading here, and visitors can take a cup of coffee and take a dip in the sun-drenched courtyard.
People often ask: "Zeng Zeng's book house" can bring to the children in the countryside? After thinking about it, Zeng Lixia did not find a concrete answer. Reading brings people the nourishment of moisturizing things silently, a small rural bookstore, can accompany children through a happy childhood, open up another world for them, so that they can always maintain inner abundance and perceive the beauty of life when they become adults, perhaps this is the best "echo".
Yunnan Net reporter: Qi Junjun Li Xilin
Editor: Li Qian
Outreach: Chen Zhuo
Special thanks to: Propaganda Department of Dali Prefecture Party Committee