People read books scattered on the subway in the morning. (Photo/Chinanews.com)
Inspired by British actress and "book fairy" Emma Watson, the Scattering Book project, which advocates leaving books in public spaces for more people to read, is going viral nationwide.
Xinshixiang, an influential public account on WeChat launched a Scattering Book project on Tuesday in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with 10,000 books left in the subways, airplanes and taxis for sharing. Celebrities such as Chen Luyu, Xu Jinglei and Huang Xiaoming participated in the event. They chose their favorite books and scattered them in the subway with messages inside.
Each book is marked with the Scattering Book project name and anyone can read the book freely and then pass it on in the city. There is a QR code inside the book and by scanning the code one can trace the book and see messages left by former readers.
Lu Jinbo, president of Guomai Culture and Media, believes that young people are becoming the main force of cultural consumption, with online reading groups springing up. In Lu's eyes, an event like Scattering Book aims to bring books to young people through stimulation of popular culture and promotes nationwide reading.
Guomai provided nearly 4,000 books for the project, including its best seller, No More than Skins, as well as classics like, Six Chapters of a Floating Life.
The project is also stirring heated debate. Some have their doubts, wondering if it is just a marketing campaign or whether it will really help people pick up a paper book again.
