A grand reading festival was launched in Dongguan on Wednesday, drawing participants from 23 cities worldwide.
Opening at Dongguan's tallest building, Minying Guomao Center, the festival aimed at creating a vibrant reading atmosphere for its residents, with over 500 activities also simultaneously initiated as part of the World Book Day series.
Dongguan creatively extended reading invitations to cities worldwide in the form of "initiatives and reading tours." Overseas Chinese, international students, overseas employees of Dongguan enterprises, as well as individuals from Dongguan's sister cities, actively participated in the activities, making the brand of "Reading in Dongguan" shining on the global stage.
Dongguan's sister cities, including Baesa in Spain, Pakse in Laos, and Holon in Israel, responded enthusiastically. Collective reading made them cross geographical and cultural boundaries, conveying positive energy. Domestic sister cities, Tumxuk, Xinjiang and Tongren, Guizhou also participated, showcasing the open and inclusive image of Dongguan to the entire nation and the world.
At the event, over 200 representatives from various local departments, enterprises, campuses, and communities, including the Dongguan Public Security Bureau, Dongguan Customs, and Dongguan Senior University, gathered together. Collaborating with over 370 shared reading locations across the city, the event attracted over 150,000 participants to this shared reading activity.
During the opening ceremony, new public cultural spaces from 16 towns joined the Dongguan Space alliance.
"·莞" (pinyin: guan) is a new public cultural spaces project that encompasses diverse services, including dining, cultural and creative exhibitions, and entertainment consumption. Currently, Dongguan has successfully established 45 new public cultural spaces, enriching the lives of citizens.
Dongguan has built 53 branch libraries across its 33 towns, forming a library network that covers the entire city in conjunction with the Dongguan Library. Additionally, there are 102 mobile library service stations, 530 grassroots service points in villages and communities, 142 urban reading stations, and 68 picture book galleries. These facilities are scattered throughout every corner of the city, providing citizens with a diverse range of reading options.
Reporter: Xie Maishi
Photo: Nanfang Plus
