Despite almost a decade passing since the release of the final Harry Potter book, the stories about the boy wizard remains the most interesting reading for surveyed students in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, of a recent survey conducted in a local bookstore.

The on-site survey conducted by the Qianjiang Evening News together with 200 questionnaires completed in local schools, including Hangzhou High School, Wenhui Middle School and Hangzhou Gongchenqiao Elementary School, formed the ranking categorizing the favorite books among young readers.

According to the survey, the Harry Potter series is the most popular book followed by "The Great Blue Yonder" by Alex Shearer and "Three Body Problem" by Liu Cixin, respectively.

"I bought the entire Harry Potter series once I had watched the first episode of the film," a local middle school boy said.

The Harry Potter series as well as the unfinished series of "A Song of Ice and Fire" which has been adapted into the superb highly rated US TV series had both fully sold out after only ten minutes, with the bookstore having to order more, the local newspaper reported.

In addition, the "Unworried Store" by Japanese mystery writer Higashino Keigo, also won favor with young Chinese readers, securing fourth spot on the ranking. 

Despite their enthusiasm for reading mystery stories, the young readers' parents were nudging their children into the world of classics, even though they may have difficulty in understanding the context, let alone the archaic writing. 

Xiao Yang, a pupil in grade five, complained that his parents had asked him to finish reading several classics, such as "Dream of the Red Chamber," whereas his favorite book is the "Monster Master" series.

"Some other classics are fairly ok, but the "Dream of the Red Chamber" is especially vague. I finished the first few chapters but was still bewildered as to what the book is trying to say," Yang said.

However, parents insisted that their children should dedicate their time to reading age-old Chinese classics, such as the "Three Character Classics" or "Thousand Character Classics" for elementary students, who are encouraged to recite them, and the Four Classics, namely, the "Journey to the West," the "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," "All Men Are Brothers" and the "Dream of the Red Chamber," for older students.

The Chinese government is actively promoting reading as one of its targets since being included in the Government Work Report of 2014.

Related

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)