Book lovers have been going to the top of a mountain in Chongqing, but not for the views(风景). They go there to read.

On World Reading Day, Nbooks Club started a two-day spring fair(交易会) on the top of Nanshan Mountain. The fair includes book sales, reading salons, flowers, food and drinks.

“I like this bookstore. It gives me a different feeling,” said Tan Li. “The beautiful views, coffee and comfortable sofas create a very comfortable environment for reading. I guess that’s the secret of its success.” Nbooks Club opened in May, 2016. The 700-square meter bookstore receives many people on both workdays and weekends. One year after it opened, Liu Tao, Che Yun and their team built a new shop near the old one. There is a theater, a hall for ceremonies, a restaurant and rooms for parties in it. The success of the bookshop has brought a kind of new life into the mountain community. Several companies have set up businesses on the mountain. The local government has also provided support for the development of the bookshop.

“Many young people love to come here. And we expect more visitors to arrive. It’s good for local economy(经济),” Che Yun said.

Jeff Green has a bad habit（习惯）. He can’t look after his things well（照看好他的物品）. Look! This is his room. His things are here and there. Look at his desk. Some things are on it. They’re a notebook, some CDs and video（录像）tapes. Jeff’s rulers and erasers are on the desk, too. He doesn’t put（A）them in his pencil box. Oh, what are those under the chair? They are Jeff’s books.

It’s eight in the morning, and Jeff is in bed. It’s Saturday（周六）. He doesn’t go to school. Oh, what’s under the bed? It’s a baseball.（B）Jeff likes playing baseball and he’s good at it. His school bag is under the bed, too. Why is it under the bed? We don’t know. What’s that under the sofa? It’s one of his socks（袜子）. Where is the other（另一个）one? We can’t see it.（C）Jeff’s mother helps him find it under the desk.

On December 23, 2008, Niu Niu held a piano recital(独奏会) at the national Grand Theater. As an eleven-year-old boy, he became the youngest pianist ever to perform a concert at the theater.

Never too young to learn

Niu Niu was born into a musical family in Xiamen. His father Zhang was a piano teacher. Niu Niu grew up listening to his father’s student playing the piano. At just three years old, Niu Niu asked his father to teach him to play, too.

“I gave Niu Niu some sheet music(活动乐谱) and helped him find the eight notes(琴键) when he first played the piano. To my surprise, he played nearly 80 percent correct,” said the father. He used to think that 3 years old is too young an age to learn piano, but Niu Niu changed his mind. He continued to allow Niu Niu to watch his teaching of other students and gave him more sheet music to play.

Playing for fun

Zhang started teaching Niu Niu standard piano lessons when he was four. Unlike many other piano teachers, Zhang didn’t insist that Niu Niu play strictly with the correct finger positioning(指法). He said that the strict finger positioning would rob some kids of fun of playing. So Niu Niu could play in his own way. He could play the tone successfully. But Niu Niu was required to play the music without looking at the sheet music. Now he can memorize about 80 pages.

Rising to fame

In 2003, at the age of 6, Niu Niu successfully held a sole concert(独唱⾳乐会) in his hometown Xiamen. At the age of 8, he gave a performance at the International Piano Festival in France. At the age of 10, Niu Niu played in London and his performance was praised by Prince Charles. Last year, this young pianist published his first album(专辑) “Niu Niu Plays Mozart” and over 10,000 copies have been sold in the world.

We are very glad to see a young Chinese pianist rising in the music world.