InearlyDecember,theSecondShenzhenBookFairwasheld.DespitenegativefactorssuchasthepandemicandE-commerce,thefairfulfilledasalesvolumeofover20millionyuan,becomingthelongest,andbest-sellingcitybookfairinChinain2020.Infact,for29years,Shenzhenhasmaintainedthehighestbooksalesnationwide.Readinghasalsobeenviewedasakeycomponentforshapingtheinnovativeculturalatmosphereofthecity.Whatisthecurrentsituationofreadingamongstyoungpeoplethen,andhowshouldweapproachreadinginthecurrentage?DuringtheShenzhenBookFair,JiangFangzhouandHuangDengprovidedinsightsfromtheperspectivesofawriterandaneducatorrespectively.TheImpactofNewMediaonTraditionalReading"Nowadays,collegestudentsgenerallylackin-depthreadingandclassicalreading,mostoftheirreadingisfragmented,”commentedProfessorHuangDengfromtheHumanitiesDepartmentatShenzhenPolytechnic.AccordingtoarecentsurveyconductedbytheChineseAcademyofSocialSciences,83%ofuniversitystudentsspendtheirtimebrowsingshortvideos,ofwhom65%arehighlyaddicted,and34%aremoderatelyaddicted."IntheliteraturecoursethatIamteaching,foratleastfivetosixyears,studentshaveneverreadclassicslike'GeneralHistoryofChina'or'TheHistoryofWesternPhilosophy'.Thenumberofstudentswhohaveread'DreamoftheRedChamber'isalsodecreasing.Moststudentscannotleavetheircellphonessandcomputers,socialmediaisalsodistractingtheirattention.Evenwhentheyarereadingdigitally,thecontentsaremostlyonlinenovelsornews."HuangDengtellsthereporterinaregretfultone:"Ithinkthequalityofreadinghasdecreasedforstudents."JiangFangzhouhasasimilarfeelingwithregardtothecurrentsituation:"Theproblemisthatwhileeveryoneknowsreadingisgood,theyarestillmoreattractedbyotherformsofmedia."ToJiang,theconcentrationcostofreadinghasincreased,sinceitrequiresself-disciplineandagoodreadinghabit.Inaddition,mediaplatformspromoteentertainment-relatedcontentsmuchmorethanbooks,whichcausesbooksunabletocompetewithscreensinthe"fightforattention".IndividualsandtheCitybothNeedNourishmentsfromReadingHuangDengbelievesthatdeepreadingcanexpandthewidthanddepthofyoungpeople'slives,whichisextremelyimportantfortheirpersonalgrowth."Withoutthesekindsofnourishment,anindividual'sunderstandingoftheworldwillbesimpleandcrude.""Readinghelpedmechangemyviewsonhumanityandontheworld,wheretheworldviewscreatedbybooksarenotblackandwhite,therearemorecomplexandwonderfulelements.Thisenhancedmyunderstandingandobservationoftheworld,”saidJiangFangzhou."ThereasonthatShenzhenhasbuiltitsspiritualtemperamenttoday,thatitiscalledthecityofinnovation,isdeeplyrelatedwithreading."Huangpointedoutthatreadingcanhelpcitizensbecomemorerational,improvetheirthinkingabilitiesaswellastheirinnovativethinking."ThisiswhyShenzhencontinuestoattractmoretalentsandmaintainitsinnovativeimpetus."AdvocateReading,ButAvoid"UtilitarianReading"Atpresent,readinghasbeenacceptedbroadlyasthemostconvenientshortcuthelpingonetogainknowledgeandexperience,andtoalleviateone'spersonalworriesandconfusions.Thenhowcanweencourageyoungpeopletoreadmoreandtoenjoyreading?JiangFangzhouprovidedsuggestionsfrombothapersonallevelandacitylevel.Shethinksthatnationalreading-promotionactivitiesaregoingverywell,suchasShenzhen'sreadingmonth.Thisbringsmanywritersface-to-facetotheirreaders,andsuchdirectcommunicationcanbringreadersclosertobooksandincreasetheirinterestinreading.HuangDeng,ontheotherhand,offeredsomeadvicesfromtheperspectiveofaneducator.Shebelievesthattherearemanyexternalinterventionsthatdistractpeoplefromreading.Thefearofbeingleftbehindatthestartingline,andthepreparationsforgraduationandforjobhuntinghavereducedthetimestudentshaveforreading.Schoolsandparentsshouldleavesomefreetimeforstudentstoarrangeindependently,"theyshouldbeprovidedwithroomwheretheycanseektheirowndirectionstogrow."ContributedbyGuangmingDailyreportersDangWenting,YanShengheTranslatedbyZhangJunye