Many people who took part in the Paris Book Fair say despite advances in digital reading materials and devices, paper books still have a bright future.

For some people in the French capital, attending the Paris Book Fair has become a tradition.

"In fact, I came here for a long time now because I am a writer myself. As you said because the Internet today, you can imagine it's not necessary to come here. But in fact, it's bit like a party, you say, more than a book fair." Said Pierre-Arnaud Jonard.

One Chinese-French writer, who has written a new book about her friendship with Madame Sun Yat-sen, says she would always prefer traditional paperback books to Internet blogs to publish her thoughts.

"It's very easy because I've been always reading books since I was a little girl. So it's naturally I like books, I love books. I think the book you can carry everywhere. It's a beautiful thing. It's a lovely feeling to read a book with paper to touch paper and to see all these pages." said Deanna Gao, Writer.

In addition to visitors and authors, one time-honored French publishing company of museum books says it plans to expand its sales of paperback books in the coming years.

"For now we sell as I said in some places in France but we will …the Internet. And on, we are selling 20,000 books in the year. And we want for 2015, we want to sell 35,000 on the net…" said Helene Soule.

The large number of readers and book vendors in downtown Paris make Soule believe her confidence is not groundless.

When the book fair isn't taking place, many readers head downtown, where book vendors gather near the river Seine. The strong role reading plays in French culture is one reason books remain so popular here in the Internet age according to former Chinese ambassador Wu Jianmin.

"Myself I am reading books from the iPad. It's convenient but I think the books, I mean paper book, printing media, conserve their charm. When you read it, you can make some remarks there. When you re-read it, maybe you have some new thinking, new thoughts." said Wu Jianmin, Former Chinese Ambassador to France.

Wu says the French young people set a good example for their Chinese counterparts who reportedly fail to spend enough time in reading. Research last year suggests an average Chinese adult reads no more than 5 books a year. Wu says it will take a long time for the people in the two countries to know more about each other. And reading could be one of the approaches to make that happen.

The city's participation in the Paris Book Fair is just one of the ongoing activities to mark the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France. Besides the Chinese national flags behind me on the Champsy-Lyse, people can learn more about China from the Louvre complex and the Grand Palais.