Second edition Chinese literature festival kicks off in Britain

China in Context, the first annual festival founded in Britain in 2016 celebrating writers and writings from and about China, returned to London's Chinatown here on Thursday.

The annual event brings together Chinese writers, translators, language experts and readers from across the world to explore the extensive range of China's history and culture through writings.

Co-organized by Cypress Books and China Exchange, the event features talks from acclaimed Chinese authors including Su Tong and Lu Nei and Chinese American writer Yan Geling, as well as a book fair, various hands-on workshops, and cultural activities.

Now in its second year, the festival focuses on the theme of "translating China."

Ru Jing, from Cypress Books, said the theme was chosen because books, quality translated books are an important way to help people understand China.

"Translating China is not only about translating the books but also the Chinese culture and other aspects of China," she said, adding that it is high time to organize such an event as more and more Chinese writers and books are known across the world.

"I am studying Chinese but the grammar is really complicated and I have a lot of problems with it," said Martin Parrott, a retired English teacher, who thanked this event for offering people access to so many Chinese books and other sources here.

"The more often this kind of event is held, the more people will come. I think you can do really good publicity in Britain, in places where people are studying Chinese languages and doing business with China, as nowadays many people in Britain want to know more about China," he said.

According to the organizer China Exchange, the festival will last over two weeks, and some of its popular workshops and talks have been fully booked.