The six-day fair is a must-go event in the city and "Have you been to the book fair?" is now a question frequently asked among book lovers. Many readers regard this annual event as a festival for them to celebrate.

Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC), the organizer of the book fair, extended Saturday's close hour from 6:30 p.m. to 2 o' clock at midnight and offered free admission from 9:30 p.m. to meet the demands of readers who could not go to the book fair during day time. The organizer said over 44,000 readers took the favor of free entry from 9:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. And bus operators also extended their services to thousands of book lovers.

Some visitors said the book fair was very much packed with people and they thought just extending the opening for one day is far from enough. Book sellers said readers visiting at night have a relatively higher buying ability and therefore their selling volume at night is around 20 percent higher than that of the day time.

The organizer said they will continue to extend the opening hour on Sunday, but it will only be extended to 10 p.m.

According to recent findings from Nielsen Media Index, three in ten Hong Kongers claim to have ever read books in the past 12 months, which is a strong proof for Hong Kong people's enthusiasm for books.

Bookworms to the fair bring in not only their enthusiasm but also money, with many planing to spend over 1,000 HK dollars for their favorite books. Two visitors from neighboring Guangdong Province said their budget for books is 3,000 HK dollars.

Besides the strong support from the readers, the famous writers invited by the organizer also added special color to this year's book fair, including swordsman fiction writer Louis Cha, science fiction author Ni Kuang, Chinese mainland writer Liu Xinwu as well as Yu Hua. They shared their writing and reading experiences with their fans.

Louis Cha, the most welcomed author of kung fu story, attracted more than 4,000 fans to discuss his popular novels about swordsman and their legends.

Liu Xinwu, a famous novelist, becoming controversial recently because of his newly published researching results about "A Dream of Red Mansions" ("The Story of the Stone"), shared his researching and writing experience with Hong Kong readers.

Another trend of this year's book fair is many Hong Kong readers are fond of books printed in simplified Chinese characters. Book exhibitors from Chinese mainland said their books are very popular among Hong Kong readers, especially novels, books about cooking and health.

According to the organizer there are over 10,000 titles showcased by 434 exhibitors, up 11 percent over that of last year.