On a recent trip to China I pcked up these books for the library at the Wang­fu­jing Book­store. None of the staff spoke Eng­lish, but I grabbed a bilin­gual cus­tomer who assured me my choices were good ones and added the five Tutu books to my pile. Tutu’s a fami­iar car­toon and she says our patrons will enjoy see­ing him in Amer­ica. My favourites are the fes­ti­val books.

Ciji­uy­ingxin Guo­dan­ian Chun­jie / Cel­e­bra­tion for New Year by Wang Early, illus­trated by Li Jian and Shen Bing

Niu­lang Zhinu de Chuan­shuo /Cowherd and Weaver Girl also by Wang Early and illus­trated by Li Jian and Shen Bing.  This is about Tan­abata Fes­ti­val, a roman­tic fes­ti­val that has evolved into a sort of Chi­nese Valentine’s Day.

The Children’s Depart­ment at Wang­fu­jing Bookstore

The Eng­lish books sec­tion promi­nently fea­tured Wimpy Kid and Roald Dahl.

I love learn­ing about small cul­tural dif­fer­ences as well as big ones when trav­el­ling — such as the packaging.