Year-end Review: Stories of books

Reading makes way to TV shows

The year of 2017 is dubbed as "the first year of the era of cultural TV shows," for quite a number of cultural variety shows have made into the entertainment industry. Among them, reading is one of the chosen themes.

The Reader produced by China Central Television (CCTV) is one of the representative shows in China. It invites celebrities, scholars, artists and ordinary people to read for the public, in the hope of raising their interests in books. Another reading-themed program Letters Alive has also become successful.

The rising of the cultural TV shows are also elected by Amazon China and Xinhua News Agency as one of the most influential cultural phenomena of the year.

The cultural shows, instead of only praised by elder people, have attracted quite a number of the younger generation. Many insiders viewed this as the Chinese people's increasing or awakening demands for high-quality cultural products, as well as the reviving of the traditions.

"The Chinese people have kept the spirit of culture all the time," said Meng Man, scholar and professor of Peking University. "It just needs to be waked up."