“A book is only alive when it is read. In other words, reading brings life to books. As writers, we work to address the craving minds of human beings and always hold the strongest desire to be recognized by readers. It is a joyful undertaking.” said Feng Jicai when he learnt that his new book Falling in Love with Europe at First Sight published in May, 2017 has been elected by the public as one of the Top 50 Most Popular Books in 2017.
As a contemporary Chinese author and famous folk artist, Professor Feng has published over 10 books about travelling. Falling in Love with Europe at First Sight is a collection of his most classic traveling notes sharing with readers the journey he took in France, England, Austria, and Russia. It is a combination of well written articles and vivid pictures. “I travelled a lot around the world and got used to writing down whatever inspired me and then sharing with readers. What impresses me most is the essence of different cultures that reflects wisdom, beauty, humanity, and great thoughts and philosophy. I always bear in my mind the sentence that we create different cultures, but we share them all”. Feng Jicai also expressed his determination to write more works that readers would like.
The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of the People’s Republic of China has sponsored an activity to select the annual Top 50 Most Popular Books for 8 years. This year, thirty-two million people cast their votes online and picked out 10 culture books, 15 literature books, 15 children books and 10 books about daily life and science. Together with Falling in Love with Europe at First Sight on the list, there are many other masterpieces such as The Buried Giant by Nobel Prize-winning British writer Kazuo Ishiguro and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari.
By Cheng Tao
Editors: Yin Wei & Doris Harrington
