The 17th Tianhe Reading Festival kicked off in Guangzhou's Tianhe district on April 23, also known as World Reading Day, and will last until June.

People pore through books at the Tiyu East Road branch of 1200bookshop in Tianhe. [Photo/thnet.gov.cn]

A reading contest is taking place in the district from April 15 to May 15. Four groups - early primary school students, older primary schoolers, middle school students, and teachers – have been set up.

From April 23 to May 23, an online reading activity is being held for all citizens in Tianhe. Winners will be decided through the combination of online voting and selection by a panel of experts.

In addition, a variety of reading activities have been launched by bookstores in the district.

An exhibition based on the theme of The Little Prince is running at the Fangsuo Commune bookstore and will last until April 26, while a World Reading Day-centered exhibition opened here on April 21 and will run through May 31.

Ni Wenjian, an associate professor at East China Normal University, will take visitors through some classic literature and guide people in reading Chinese texts at the Tiyu East Road branch of 1200bookshop from 8 pm to 9:30 pm on April 28.