International Poetry Festival

Photo of some well-known poets who will attend this year's Shanghai International Poetry Festival, part of the 2016 Shanghai Book Fair [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

This event will see a gathering of famous poets from China and overseas, including Sharon Olds and Terrance Hayes from the US, Sean O'Brien from the UK, Jan Wagner from Germany, and China's own Yang Lian, Xichuan, and Yu Jian.

The festival will host a series of activities such as a poetry-writing competition, a centennial celebration of the birth of China's modern poetry, and an exchange forum for poetry writing skills.

3-D audiobooks exhibition

A 3-D audiobooks exhibition launched by Chinese audiobook provider, Himalaya FM, attracts a large amount of visitors during the 2016 Shanghai Book Fair. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Audiobooks were not introduced to China until the 1990s, but today have gained a base of some 130 million listeners in less than 20 years. It is predicted that in the near future, market revenues will exceed 2 billion yuan ($302.2 million), according to a Nilson report on the Chinese book market.

Himalaya FM, a Chinese mobile app offering audiobooks, this year will display a 3-D audio library where users can listen to books using 3-D headphones.

The 3-D audio effect of the headphones enables listeners to feel that they are actually at the scene the book describes, sounding as if the characters are talking right beside you.

The Shanghai Book Fair was first held in 2004 and takes place in August annually. It has developed from a regional event into a national cultural gala over the past decade and is dedicated to getting more people to love reading.