On April 15th, coinciding with the National Reading Month, the 14th Metro Reading Festival, themed “Open Your City’s Book,” kicked off at the Guanggu Square Metro Station, Asia’s largest transportation complex.

Five popular bloggers recommended “City Reading” check-in routes.

On-site, the Wuhan Metro officially launched the “Open Your City’s Book” themed stamp collection check-in activity, unveiling five “City Reading” routes. Over the next month and a half, a variety of “extended reading” activities will be rolled out along the metro lines.

This year’s reading festival collaborated with five well-known bloggers from various fields to meticulously create “City Reading” check-in routes covering five major areas: literature, architecture, food, culture and museums, and technology. Using the five themes “City of Books,” “Architectural Tour,” “Taste of the City,” “Leisurely City Stroll,” and “Cyber Light Chase” as the main threads, they cleverly connected city landmarks such as the Hubei Provincial Library, the Panlongcheng Ruins Museum, Tanhualin, and the Optics Valley Science and Technology Innovation Circle. This effort mapped out a unique “Urban Cultural Map on the Rails,” achieving widespread dissemination through blogger-fan interactions.

At the launch ceremony, a “City Reading Ambassador” recommended the “City of Books” route to citizens. This route includes cultural landmarks like the Hubei Provincial Library near Xiaoguishan Station on Line 2 and the Wuhan Central Book City at Fanhu Station on Line 3. It was stated: “The metro space is an intersection of fast and slow, of starting points and destinations. Holding cultural activities here is of extraordinary significance.”

To allow citizens to deeply experience the joy of “City Reading,” the event specially upgraded the check-in experience. A local university and the art group “Sketch Wuhan” jointly designed 40 city architecture-themed stamps and an original hand-drawn stamp collection handbook. These were distributed free in limited quantities during the event period, encouraging citizens to interpret the city’s cultural code through fun exploration.

It was explained that this marks the fifth collaboration between the institution and Wuhan Metro. This year, the stamp designs underwent a comprehensive upgrade, aiming to deliver a surprising experience for citizens. It was noted that the metro is not just a transportation tool but also a carrier for cultural dissemination. Through the reading festival activities, the metro can carry more cultural significance, linking city attractions and allowing visitors to learn about Wuhan while riding the subway.

It was learned on-site that this year, Wuhan Metro also partnered with the Hubei Provincial Library to establish “Metro Cloud Libraries.” This initiative brings over 1.2 million types of digital resources from the provincial library—including e-books, periodicals, audiobooks, and videos—into the metro space. Citizens simply need to scan a QR code to read anytime during their commute, creating a personal “Pocket Library.” Currently, the first batch of “Metro Cloud Libraries” has been set up at six stations: Huiji 2nd Road on Line 3, Zhongjiacun on Line 6, Xujiapeng on Line 7, Huangpu Road on Line 8, Hongshan Road on Line 8, and Ziyang Lake on Line 11.

“City Reading” routes and stamp collection check-in rules.

Guanggu Square Metro Station

Guanggu Square Metro Station is a major transportation hub on Line 2 of the Wuhan Metro, located in the heart of the city’s East Lake High-Tech Development Zone (also known as the “Optics Valley”). It opened in 2012 to serve the district’s booming tech industry and commercial center, becoming a vital link for the area’s workforce and residents. The station’s name and location reflect its role as the gateway to Guanggu Square, a central public and business plaza

Guanggu Square Metro Station

Guanggu Square Metro Station is a major transportation hub on Line 2 of the Wuhan Metro, located in the heart of the city’s East Lake High-Tech Development Zone (also known as the “Optics Valley”). It opened in 2012 to serve the district’s booming tech industry and commercial center, becoming a vital link for the area’s workforce and residents. The station’s name and location reflect its role as the central public square of this modern scientific and technological hub.

Hubei Provincial Library

The Hubei Provincial Library, founded in 1904, is one of China’s oldest and most significant public libraries. It was originally established in Wuchang and has played a vital role in preserving regional culture and historical documents, including a renowned collection of ancient Chinese texts. Today, its modern main branch in Wuhan serves as a major cultural and research center for the province.

Panlongcheng Ruins Museum

The Panlongcheng Ruins Museum in Wuhan, Hubei Province, showcases the archaeological remains of a major Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) city, which served as a vital southern military outpost and cultural center. Its discovery in the 1950s provided crucial evidence of the Shang civilization’s reach beyond the Central Plains, featuring well-preserved city walls, palaces, and elite tombs with significant bronze artifacts. The museum preserves the site and exhibits these finds, offering insights into early Chinese state formation and Bronze Age culture in the Yangtze River region.

Tanhualin

Tanhualin is a historic neighborhood in Wuhan, China, known for its well-preserved architecture from the late Qing Dynasty and Republican era. It originally served as a foreign concession and banking district, becoming a center of finance and trade in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, it is a popular cultural and commercial area, blending historical buildings with modern shops and cafes.

Optics Valley Science and Technology Innovation Circle

The Optics Valley Science and Technology Innovation Circle, located in Wuhan, China, is a major national hub for photoelectronics and information technology. Established in the late 1980s as the “China Optics Valley,” it has grown from a research-focused zone into a comprehensive innovation ecosystem. Today, it is home to thousands of high-tech enterprises and research institutions, driving advancements in fields like optical fiber communications, lasers, and integrated circuits.

Wuhan Central Book City

Wuhan Central Book City is a major cultural landmark and one of the largest bookstores in central China, located in the city’s Wuchang District. It opened in 2014 and was designed to be a comprehensive cultural complex, integrating book retail with exhibitions, lectures, and creative spaces to promote public reading and intellectual life.

Xiaoguishan Station

Xiaoguishan Station is a metro station on Line 1 of the Shenzhen Metro in China, located in the Nanshan District. It opened in 2009 as part of the city’s rapid transit expansion to serve the growing Shekou area. The station’s name, which translates to “Little Guishan Station,” references the nearby Guishan (Turtle Hill) and the historic Shekou industrial zone.

Fanhu Station

“Fanhu Station” is a fictional location, most notably featured in the 2019 Chinese sci-fi film *The Wandering Earth*. In the movie’s narrative, it is an underground city located in Jinan, Shandong Province, serving as a vital refuge and transport hub for humanity after Earth is propelled away from the dying Sun. As a creation for the film, it has no real-world history but symbolizes the resilience and technological ingenuity of civilization in the face of an existential crisis.

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