China's reading list reveals a few surprises

2011 witnessed dramatic changes in the country's publishing and reading scene. With the rise of e-publishing, traditional publishers faced the real danger of losing out in a new era, as highlighted by the theme of two key publishers' gatherings. The Beijing International Publishing Forum and China Book International's Foreign Experts Seminar - both staged in August - focused on e-publishing. At the same time, traditional bookstores are closing down, while others struggle to survive. The good news is that the number of readers is on the rise. Writers' Rich List producer Wu Huaiyao says that's judging from his fieldwork in publishing, more Chinese are habitual readers, thanks to the adoption of e-reading devices. As for the literature itself, Chen Fumin, with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says established writers are more concerned with down to earth topics relevant to society. "Some of them are really as good as the older generation," Chen says, of younger writers. "They just need time to be better known." Top 10 Books (in alphabetical order) China in Revolution: The Road to 1911 By Liu Heung Shing (World Publishing Corporation) Pulitzer-winning photographer Liu Heung Shing pays tribute to the 1911 Revolution to celebrate its 100th anniversary this year. China Shock By Zhang Weiwei (Shanghai People's Publishing House) The author, a Geneva-based researcher of international relations, was formerly China's top leaders' translator/interpreter. Zhang expands the ideas of the "China Model" and concludes "no other countries have made the people better off quicker than China". Dead End, third book of the Three Body Trilogy By Liu Cixin (Chongqing Publishing House) Hailed as the first writer of Chinese science-fiction, Liu Cixin ends the trilogy about a Chinese scientist saving the world from being flattened into two dimensions. Divine Redolence By Wang Anyi (People's Literature Publishing House) The novel reflects Chinese folk life in Shanghai through the rise and fall of the Shen family during the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).