The 2025 Shanghai Book Fair just wrapped up with record-breaking numbers, proving that books are still very much alive in the digital age! 🌟 With a dual-venue setup at the Shanghai Exhibition Center and Shanghai Book City—plus 16 district sub-venues and 100 local bookstores—the event drew 382,000 visitors (a 28.4% jump from last year) and raked in 64.73 million yuan ($8.9M) in book sales. Even文创 (cultural creative) products doubled their sales to 10.17 million yuan ($1.4M)! 💰
Wuzhen’s Literary Makeover 🏮
This year, the fair expanded beyond Shanghai for the first time, partnering with Wuzhen, Zhejiang’s iconic water town. Imagine sipping tea in a 1,000-year-old canal-side café… while browsing books! 📖 Over 70 reading spaces popped up in hotels, bars, and even dining rooms, turning the town into what Irish literary expert Darina Gallagher called "one big flowing library." Gallagher joined panels in both Shanghai and Wuzhen, blending Irish and Chinese storytelling traditions. "Cultural exchanges like this are inspiring," she said.
Reading Unites the Yangtze Delta 🌊
The fair’s ripple effect reached across the Yangtze River Delta, with 30+ bookstores and dealers from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui showcasing tens of thousands of books and文创 goods. Think of it as a Coachella for book nerds—minus the mud, plus more philosophy. 🎪
