Special guest China prominent at New Delhi book fair

Inside the pavilion, at the center, a cubicle has set aside to attract young children. The walls have frames impeccably kept featuring colorful sketches of places and characters from Chinese fairy tales.

Below each frame is the gist of the story translated into English for Indian children.

"I have enjoyed the fairy tales, for they are meaningful and exciting," said Ashutosh Khurana, a sixth grade student, who had come to the fair along with his mother and sister.

"I have developed an interest to read more and want to read children's bed time stories from China."

Apart from showcasing books, several important Chinese authors, including acclaimed children's fiction writer Cao Wenxuan, best seller Mai Jai, as well as, lyrical poet Lan Lan among others, will be present during the fair to share their writing experiences and insights.

"At least one third of the spiritual lives of people today originates from India. But this ancient country offers not only religion, it has Tagore, and film and software engineers, and music and dance, all indispensable parts of global civilization," writes Mia Jia in his message to India.

In the age of the Internet, this huge book event appears to be a concrete effort from participating countries to keep book culture alive and incubate reading habits into the next generation.

"The New Delhi World Book Fair is today one of the premier calendar events in the world of books, where we offer opportunities to do business with the book industries of India, Asia and Africa," said Rita Chowdhury, the fair director.

"The guest of honor country China has come in a big way to host a series of programs as part of their presentation."

The fair touted as "Asia's largest book fair" last year attracted around one million visitors. However, this year the expectations are higher.

Around Delhi, the billboards and posters about the book fair are dotting the roads and markets. Even posters have been pasted on the back of auto rickshaws, a common form of urban transport in India, to lure people.