Beijing opens first underground library

Beijing's first underground library "M Subway•Library" is open. [Photo/mtr.bj.cn]

China's capital city launched its first underground library, "M Subway•Library" on Jan 12. The theme of its first activity is "Our Characters".

Citizens riding the special train on subway Line 4 now can read e-books provided by the National Library by scanning the QR code in the carriage.

"M Subway•Library" is a public welfare program initiated by the Beijing MTR and the National Library to provide qualified book resources to the public through the platform of public transportation. The library will organize different themed activities regularly and recommend a dozen free books to the public each year in the long term.

According to Chinanews.com, the deputy curator of the National Library, Wei Dawei, said that he hopes the program can help increase the public facilities' cultural atmosphere and enable the reading and knowledge to "move" and be alive in people's daily lives.

The first themed activity, "Our Characters", will display the history, inheritance and cultural meaning of more than 30 ethnic characters in China through the two organizers' official Sina Weibo accounts and websites, and exhibitions in the public spaces in the subway and at the National Library.