Capital festival promotes the joy of reading

Local residents recite during the opening ceremony in Fangshan district, Beijing, April 12, 2016. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The curtain went up on Tuesday on the sixth annual Beijing Reading Festival, an event that aims to encourage reading among the capital's population throughout the rest of the year.

The Chinese government has in recent years stressed the need paid to encourage a love of reading in all people. The target has been included in the Report on the Work of the Government for the last three years in a row, and also features in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2015-2020).

"A good reading environment will improve Beijing's creativity and vitality, giving it more cultural charm," said Sun Kanglin, deputy director of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, at the opening ceremony at the Fangshan Sports Center.

This year, more than 3,000 reading-related activities will be held in Beijing. There will be different themes over the course of the year, including literary classics in May, aesthetics of everyday life in August and traditional culture in November and December.

In order to better promote reading among a wider audience, the Beijing municipal government has planned new activities for 2016, including "Reading and Movie", "Travel with Books" and a "Spotlight on Reading" photo contest. Subway Line 4 will be transformed to a special "reading line" to encourage people to share their reading while taking the train.