Chinese writer Cao Wenxuan won the 2016 Hans Christian Anderson Award. He became the first Chinese writer to win this international prize for children’s books.

Cao’s works are mostly about two themes—social reality (社会现实) and the world of fantasy (幻想).

His novel Bronze and Sunflower, for example, follows the lives of two lonely children who make friends with each other.

Awards team president Patricia Aldana told Xinhua News, “He is a great example of how writing stories about brave children facing great difficulties can attract a lot of enthusiastic child readers.”

In an interview with China Daily, Cao said, “My own childhood was filled with sadness and memories of hunger, so I hope to give young readers an understanding of how to treat sadness.

He added, “The many difficulties the country has gone through are where its power and fortunes lie. Smart writers should know how to use these resources (资源).”

As well as writing about social reality, Cao also makes his readers use their imagination. In A Feather (《羽毛》, 2013), he tells the story of a feather’s journey to a mother bird using the voice of a child. Speaking to China Daily, he said this began “a series of ideas on where it came from, where it was going, and which bird it belonged to.”

Cao’s works take us to different places and challenges our minds in different ways. It’s no surprise his novels are best-sellers.

An initiative（倡议）to share books about the history and the present of the Communist Party of China kicked off in Shanghai at the city’s Fudan University on Friday and will last through the end of May.

Thousands of books on Party history and development were brought to a reading club on the school campus to celebrate the coming 100th anniversary(周年) of the founding of the CPC in July under the initiative held by the Shanghai Century Publishing (Group) Co Ltd and Yongye Group among others.

Jiao Yang, Party secretary of Fudan University, said that such a platform will help guide Party members, teachers and students to make themselves richer in thoughts through in-depth reading, improve their moral standards and bring more energy and liveliness to the school campus.

Zhang Wenhong, a famous doctor in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic from Shanghai who said that he always keeps a book or two in his bag to read during his spare time, was named as the book club chair for the first day. He recommended youths to read more about the history during the early period after the CPC founding.

“Only after learning more about those old days could we understand that the Party’s victory and growth was not something sudden. It was destined(注定) to win the support of the people and be the choice of history,” said Zhang, who is also director of the department of infectious diseases of Huashan Hospital Affiliated with Fudan University.

“A better understanding of the past can also help young people put their future personal development in a bigger picture according to time and the county’s blueprint,” he said.

By ZHOU WENTING in Shanghai | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2021-05-08 Saturday

Thumbs-up for Zhang Jing!

“This is not the way to deal with Chinese people,” said Chinese interpreter(口译员) Zhang Jing calmly.

Recently, China and the US held an important meeting. Zhang’s translation impressed(印象深刻) the US side. One US leader even joked that she deserved a raise(加薪). Zhang’s translation work also won her lots of fans on social media.

Providing translation at important events like this is very difficult. It tests not just a person’s English skills. He or she must be able to take quick notes and think fast, too. For Zhang, however, it all seems to be a piece of cake.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day. When she was in middle school, Zhang wanted to be a diplomat(外交官). She was always working hard. Every morning, Zhang got up early to listen to the news in English. She spent lots of time doing translation exercises. She would always ask herself, “Could I have done better?” The girl kept making progress. Finally, her dream came true.

Do you want to be as good at speaking English as Zhang? Work hard towards your goals and never give up. That’s exactly the key to success.