Jing'an Turns the Page on a Summer of Culture

The Shanghai Book Fair at the Shanghai Exhibition Center brought together around 21 publishing groups and 380 publishing houses from August 12-18.

For Jing'an, the annual celebration of books was also an opportunity to showcase the district's literary and cultural scene.

The English edition of "Discover Shanghai: Citywalk Along Suzhou Creek" made its debut at the fair after its international release in July.

Written by Shanghai historian and citywalk expert Zhu Yining, the book is a rare English-language guide to the city.

Built around the idea of exploring a city on foot, the book takes readers to 26 spots along Suzhou Creek, 13 of them in Jing'an.

Through stories of the riverfront's history, architecture and contemporary life, it offers international readers a fresh way to discover Shanghai and its distinctive urban culture.

Jing'an offered more ways to explore the district outside the pages. At the fair's main service desk and on the first floor, visitors could get free travel guides and maps of the district's neighborhoods, heritage and cultural landmarks.

Custom fans, sun umbrellas, canvas tote bags and refrigerator magnets featuring three Jing'an landmarks were also available.

Jing'an also hosted 88 reading events, taking books beyond traditional venues and into shopping malls, neighborhoods, museums and public spaces.

A pop-up reading space at CITIC Square combined books, author talks, AI interactions, and youth film projects to make reading more interactive. The event also launched "Jing Xiao An and An Xiao Jing Go for a Walk," a book about Jing'an's reading mascots. It takes young readers on a city walk through the district's historic buildings, exploring their architecture, stories and culture.

At the Jing'an District Library, AI brought a new dimension to reading. AI-powered robots told stories to young readers using voice and live demonstrations. The library introduced AI-powered reading and knowledge quizzes, and district-wide smart book lockers let readers order books online and pick them up nearby.

At the century-old Zhangyuan Garden, the book fair brought reading into the historic shikumen lanes for the first time. Among the highlights was a limited-time Shanghai-style reading room created with SDX Joint Publishing Company, featuring books on Zhangyuan and Shanghai's history and culture.

At Jing'an Joy City, a dedicated lending area for anime and literature brought reading into the world of pop culture. At 1788 Square, bilingual picture-book story sessions offered young readers a chance to explore Shanghai culture from both local and international perspectives.

Meanwhile, a mobile library traveled between shopping districts, business parks and neighborhoods, bringing books and shared reading spaces directly to readers.

The cultural buzz was also spilling over into consumer spending. The "Jing'an GO" platform teamed up with the Shanghai Book Fair to offer exclusive perks at more than 200 businesses, with ticket-linked deals covering dining, retail, coffee, parking, lifestyle services, jewelry and experiences.

For hundreds of thousands of book fair visitors, a 10-yuan (US$1.5) ticket became a gateway to discounts and offers across Jing'an's shopping and dining districts, creating a new link between the exhibition halls and the wider commercial scene.

Readers could also receive a commemorative ticket stub after borrowing five or more books from participating Jing'an libraries. The ticket stub could then be used for discounts at participating businesses and independent bookstores.

Another cultural highlight this August was the China Artists Association's First Modern Illustration Art Exhibition, held in a century-old warehouse-turned-art space near Suzhou Creek.

The show featured 296 works spanning traditional media such as watercolor and printmaking, as well as digital and cross-media art, exploring Chinese culture, everyday life, technological innovation and visions of the future.