The first set of Chinese stories presented in English scripts (剧本), titled Stories of China: Performed in English, was officially published by Foreign Languages Press. Planned by the New Channel International Education Group with the participation of playwrights from China, the United Kingdom and the United States, the book provides a new way for young people to learn English while inheriting (传承) and spreading Chinese culture.

The book contains 20 English scripts in novel formats covering a wide range of subjects. Unlike the most common English scripts for young readers on the market which are based on adaptations of European and American stories, those presented in this book are unique for being based on classic Chinese stories, readapted and written in English. The book is divided into first to third grades in terms of grammar and vocabulary difficulty, making it suitable for young English learners from primary school to junior and high school.

All the scripts in the book are written by top playwrights with elegant, pure and vivid language. The scripts are provided with a summary of the story in both Chinese and English, so that readers can fully understand the plot as well as the history and culture behind it. Readers can not only improve their English skills through immersive (沉浸式) reading and performance but also appreciate Chinese culture.

Hu Min, English education expert and founder of the New Channel, said the combination of traditional culture and English teaching has become a trend, guiding young people to bring their own wisdom and deep cultural heritage to tell Chinese stories to the world. New Channel will offer special courses on Stories of China: Performed in English in its many schools across the country, and cooperate with primary and secondary schools in Beijing, Shanghai to offer English drama courses on a trial basis. Hu believes the courses will set off a new wave of enthusiastic learning among young people.

First published in 2001, the book Life of Pi written by Canadian author Yann Martel won the Man Booker Prize and an Asian American Prize for Literature. It is the story of a young boy named Pi who spends 227 days at sea with a small group of animals after disaster strikes their ship and is an account of his journey of survival and hardship.

Piscine Molitor Patel（Pi）, on whom Life of Pi is based, is a young boy living in Pondicherry, India, where his father owns a zoo. The story starts when Patel's family decide to move to Canada, along with their zoo animals for their new home.

However, because of the bad weather, the ship sinks. Pi and an orangutan（猩猩）, an injured zebra, a hyena（鬣狗）and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker are the only survivors who take shelter in a small lifeboat. Both the injured zebra and the orangutan are soon killed and eaten by the hyena. The tiger in turn kills and eats the hyena, leaving just                           the two of them alone on the boat now.

In an effort to avoid being eaten by Richard Parker, Pi acts himself as the head of the group and remains safe from harm. Since he does not want the tiger to die for fear of going mad by being alone on the boat, he fishes and feeds the two of them in order to stay alive.

The life of Pi then enters its third stage when their lifeboat washes up on the shores of Mexico and the tiger escapes into a nearby forest, leaving Pi alone. After the Mexicans refuse to believe Pi's story, he changes his tale by replacing the animals with his mother, a cook and a sailor and asks the Mexicans which one they prefer. They prefer hearing the first story though they do not believe a word of it.

In my view, Life of Pi is a must-read book for all those who love reading.