Birthday boy Harry Potter still magic in China

J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter series enjoys great popularity among China's young readers. [Photo/China Daily]

Dressed as Harry Potter, a young Chinese man caught the eye at a party on Friday in Beijing, where guests sat in four groups representing the four houses of the wizards school Hogwarts.

Lin Pin and other Chinese Potterphiles costumed as characters including Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were attending a bash for the 15th anniversary of their alter egos' arrival in China. They were also toasting British author J. K. Rowling and her protagonist Potter, who happen to share a birthday (she turned 50 on Friday, he would have been 35).

The scrawny, bespectacled wizard boy has conjured up a big fan base in China and boosted development of Chinese children's literature since the first of seven fantasy novels was translated into Chinese and printed by the People's Literature Publishing House (PLPH) in 2000.

The series has sold more than 16 million copies nationwide, according to PLPH, remaining an annual best-seller.

"I didn't expect the series would be so popular in China. It's a miracle," Wang Ruiqin, the editor behind the Chinese edition of the series, said at the party, organized by PLPH.

She still remembers how her team beat a crowd of Chinese competitors bidding for the right to publish the books, and how they stayed up rendering Rowling's fantasy into idiomatic Chinese. But what impressed her most was the debut on Oct. 6, 2000.

"When I got there at 9:30 a.m., people had lined up halfway around the block at Wangfujing Bookstore. Some of them arrived at 5 a.m.," she recalled.

More than 1,500 copies were sold within two hours, setting a record for the bookstore in Beijing's main shopping district.

After releasing the first three novels in China, Wang received an influx of letters from children across the country telling her how crazy they went for the magical world and how they read the books over and over again.

CASTING A SPELL OVER A GENERATION

Lin Pin, 27, calls himself a "super Potterphile." The doctoral student studies literature at Peking University. He has written essays on Potter.

"I adore Harry. I study him and want to be like him," said Lin.

Lin also plays Quidditch, a sport invented by Rowling.

Students from Beijing, Shanghai and other cities are planning the first National Quidditch Cup, joining in the fun of their American peers who adapted the sport from flying on broomsticks to running on football fields.

Lin is one of many enthusiasts who nickname Rowing "Luo Shen," or "Aunt Rowling." "Shen" means aunt in Chinese, while "Luo" is the Chinese abbreviation of the surname Rowling.

"Hamifengzi," or "Lunatic Harry Fan," has 140,000 followers on microblogging service Weibo. The anonymous account posts news on the books and adapted film series, translates tweets by Rowling into Chinese and shares fans pictures and video clips.

WAVING A WAND OVER CHINESE LITERATURE

In the past decade and a half, Harry Potter has boosted development of children's literature in China.

According to OpenBook, a Beijing-based book industry researcher, children's books have dominated the best-sellers list in recent years.

"Chinese children's literature didn't take off until 15 years ago," said Yan Xiaoli, a senior publisher. "Harry Potter broadened the horizons of Chinese writers and parents. They got to know what children really like to read. Meanwhile, publishers began to pay attention to outstanding books overseas."

"Today, China has cultivated more children's authors and publishers. Many of them have had a good stab at blending magic elements with ancient Chinese fairy tales," she said.