The Bookseller.com

14th October 2008

Katherine Rushton is chief reporter on Broadcast, and was formerly senior reporter at The Bookseller.

The Beijing book bustle

30.08.07

The 2007 Beijing International Book Fair opened this morning with a mad blend of cultural contradictions: the first sight was a platform of international "VIPs", all sternly told that they were "expected" to be there before being greeted with great and solemn ceremony. Meanwhile, less than 10 metres away, a military brass band was belting out numbers, and a gaggle of cutesy cartoon characters vied to be photographed, while sweltering in the heat.

Getting through the crowds and actually into the main exhibition centre was also an eye opener. Airport-style security barriers beeped relentlessly, flanked by white-gloved officials who never actually searched luggage, but locals with a suspicious number of bags and the look of a hawker were brusquely turned away before they even got close.

Inside though, BIBF felt like a genuinely international space. The aisles were wide and full of familiar faces--some very senior--and publishers had clearly invested in the size and quality of their stands. Really it feels like a mix of the Frankfurt and Bologna fairs: impersonal and with all the English-speaking publishers collected together in Hall Eight, but with lovely sunny weather.

The other thing it has in common with Bologna is that everyone is delighted to be here. There are admittedly some doubts about the food, and much sadness about the loss of Starbucks - which has had a concession at previous fairs but has vanished this year - but it is obvious that publishers, agents and other fair organisers are all pleased as punch to be in Beijing at such an exciting time in the city's development, ahead of the 2008 Olympics.

In fact the games are on everyone's lips, and publishers are keen to snap up the right books about or from China to publish in the wave of international interest they will bring.

The locals are also obsessed: any mention that you come from London prompts congratulations that you will also host the games, and I understand from the rumour mill that the government is planning a three-month halt on all industry and road traffic before the event to help reduce the city's legendary (and visible) levels of pollution. If it's true, then that is a serious feat: I am late for a party right now and have been warned that it could take me anything from one to one and a half hours to get across the city.

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