Books bridge the cross-Straits divide

（People browsing at one of Eslite's stores in Taipei. The Taiwan bookstore chain will open its first mainland branch in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, at the end of this month. TAO MING/XINHUA）

InhismemoirOnceUponaTimeinTaiwan,writerLiaoShinchung,a38-year-oldformerstoreassistantfromtheisland,describedhisfirstencounterwithamainlandresident,onanairplaneinearly1990s.

Hewrote:"TherewasapopularsayingatthattimeinTaiwan:'Peopleinthemainlandareverypoor,sotheyonlyeatbananaskins'.Afterashortchatwiththeman,Icarefullytossedinaquestion.'Iheard...well...youalleatbananaskins?'Themanfromthemainlandbangedthearmrestwithhishandandcriedout:'IheardpeopleinTaiwanallatebananaskins!'Wehadagoodlaughtogether,andthenponderedthemystery,'Whoatethebanana?'"

AsLiaoexplainsinhisbook,manyTaiwanresidentsgainedtheirfirstimpressionsofthe"communistmob"onthemainlandfromillustrationsintextbooksthatshowedbig,fatcommunists,withcigarettesdanglingfromtheirmouths,whippingpeopleinthemainland.

ForLiao,thoseimpressionswereshatteredwhenhewasamiddleschoolstudentandhesawphotographsofZhouEnlai,China'sfirstpremier.

"Icouldn'tbelieveit.(Thephotos)mademeseriouslyconfused.Shouldn'ttheylookbig,fatandobscene?Icouldn'tbelieveamemberofthe'communistmob'couldhavesuchalookofrighteousness.Atthatmoment,myvaluesalmostcollapsed,"hewrote.

Liao'sstories,whichinterweavetalesofhisdailylifewithmajorsocialeventsinTaiwan,includingitsrockyrelationswiththemainland,provokedasensationwhenthebookwaspublishedinthemainlandin2009.Itquicklysoldmorethan1millioncopies.Lastyear,hepublishedasequel,andhasfollowedupwithtwomorebooksaboutTaiwanthisyear.Allthreehavemadeasimilarsplash.

Inhisfirstbook,Liaowroteabouthisdailylife,frompranks,suchasthrowingfirecrackersintothetoiletasanelementaryschoolstudent,tohisexperienceofservinginthearmy.Inadditiontopersonalstories,thesecondhalfofeachchapter－oneperyearfrom1977to2009－describedmajornewsorchangesontheislandduringtheyearinquestion,includingthedeathofChiangChing-kuo,theleaderoftheKuomintangandsonofChiangKai-shek,andtheopeningofTaiwan'sfirstMcDonald's.

"Themost-positivefeedbackI'vereceivedhasbeenaboutsmall,personalstories,likemychildhoodmemoriesorhowmyparentsnaggedmewhenImadetrouble,"saidLiao,whoisnowbasedinShanghai."Iguessit'sbecausesmallthingsremindreadersinthemainlandofsimilarexperiencestheyhad.Byreadingmystories,theyrealized,afterallthoseyears,thatpeopleacrosstheStraitshavefundamentallybeenlivingthesamelife.Theordinarystoriesaboutordinarypeoplebringconnectionsandunderstanding."

Althoughcross-Straitsexchangesandcommunicationshavebeenincreasingsteadilyovertheyears,mainlandresidentsstillrequirespecialdocumentsandpermissiontovisittheisland.

Taiwanisina"specialandsensitivetime"aheadofJanuary'selections,accordingtotheStateCouncil'sTaiwanAffairsOffice,whichsaidthenumberoftouristsfromthemainlandcoulddecline,leavingliteratureasanimportantchannelformainlandresidentstogettoknowpeoplelivingontheothersideoftheStraits.

Typing"Taiwan"inakeywordsearchonAmazonChina,oneofthecountry'slargestonlinebookretailers,promptsmorethan9,000results,twiceasmanyasasearchfor"HongKong".

ThecoverdesignofOnceUponaTimeinTaiwanshowsanenvelopebearingthesentence"AletterfromayoungmaninTaiwantothe1.3billionfolksinthemainland."

Thebookhasgarneredmorethan1,000commentsonAmazon'ssite,withonereaderwriting:"ItisarecordofthelifeofanordinaryTaiwanresident,andthesocialeventsduringtheperiod.ItgavemeanotherangleforunderstandingTaiwan."

Anotherreaderwrote:"TheTaiwanIusedtoknowwastwisted.Afterreadingthisbook,Ifoundthattheirlivesarejustlikeours...Hisstoriesofschoolremindedmeofmyownchildhoodexperiences."

（Travel books about Taiwan on the shelves at a bookstore in Beijing. WANG ZHUANGFEI/CHINA DAILY）

'Peoplearepeople'

LiaoreadalotofbooksaboutTaiwanbeforehestartedwritingOnceUponaTimeinTaiwan,anddiscoveredthatmostofthosepublishedinthemainlandwereaboutTaiwan'shistoryorpolitics.

"NoonewastellingstoriesaboutordinarypeoplefromTaiwan,notpoliticians,notbusinesstycoons,"hesaid."Butknowingregularpeopleisthebestwayofknowingaplace.Iunderstandthemainlandbyreadingstoriesaboutordinarymainlandpeople."

HeusedtheexampleofThe1970s,acollectionofmainlandresidents'recollectionsofthedecade."Peoplearepeople.Evenduringthemostpoliticalera,peopleshoutedpoliticalslogansandthenwenttodowhatevertheyhadtodo.ItwasthesameinTaiwan,"hesaid.

ReferringtotherecentmomentousmeetingbetweenXiJinping,generalsecretaryoftheCommunistPartyofChinaCentralCommittee,andTaiwanleaderMaYing-jeou,NiYongjie,deputydirectoroftheShanghaiInstituteofTaiwanStudies,saidpoliticalandeconomiccross-Straitsrelationshaveimproved,butpeoplearestillnotfamiliarwiththeirneighborsontheothersideofthewater.

"Peoplefromthemainlanddon'tunderstandwhy,despiteyearsofsendingfriendlymess-ages,Taiwanresidentsstillwon'tdroptheirguards.That'sbecausetheydon'tknowwhatpeoplefromtheothersidehavebeenthroughandwhattheirlivesarelikenow,"Nisaid."That'swhyweshouldencouragepeoplefrombothsidestocommunicate,tolistentoeachother."

LiShengbo,a26-year-oldBeijingresident,hasjustreturnedtothemainlandafteratwo-weekbusinesstriptoTaiwan.Beforethevisit,everythingheknewabouttheislandcamefrombookswrittenbyauthorsfromTaiwan,includingLiAo,ahistorianandsocialcommentator,andLungYing-tai,awriterandpublicintellectual.

"Inthebeginning,Ireadalotaboutcross-Straitspoliticsandhistory,butlaterIfoundthehuman-intereststoriesweremoretouching.Theytaughtmemoreabouttheisland,"Lisaid,referringtoLung'sbookChildren,TakeYourTime,acollectionofessaysaboutlifewithhertwosons.

"IwenttotheEslitebookstoreinTaipeitofindmorebooksabouttheisland,"hesaid,addingthathewasfascinatedbytheliteraryatmosphereinthestore,oneofTaipei'slandmarkculturalorganizations.

TheEslitebookstorechainwillopenitsfirstmainlandbranchinSuzhouintheeasternprovinceofJiangsuattheendofNovember.

"Peoplecanlearnaboutaplacethroughmovies,televisionprograms,food,andofcoursebyreadingaboutit.TheEslitebookstore,asanorganizationfoundedinTaiwan,iswillingtocontributetocross-Straitsexchanges,"saidColinLang,aTaiwannativewhoisEslite'sdirectorofoperationsfortheChinesemainland.

The500,000-plusbooksatthenewSuzhoubranchwillincludeaconsiderablenumberwrittenbyauthorsfromTaiwan,andwillcoverawiderangeoffields,fromcultureandarttoeconomics,accordingtoLang,whoaddedthatEslite'sdatashowbooksalesroseby20,000lastyear,comparedwith2013.

Readingprovidesaprofounderunderstandingand,sometimes,shockingexperience,comparedwithwatchingTVorusingtheInternet,hesaid."Taiwan'sliteraryandscreencultureshavebeendeeplyinfluencedbytheculturesandtraditionsofthemainland.ManyTaiwanresidentsareveryfamiliarwithmainlandculturebecausemanyofthemcamefromthereoriginally,includingmyancestors,"saidLang.

"I'vereadaboutthebeautyandhistoryofSuzhousinceIwasveryyoung.WhenIcameheretoprepareourflagshipstoretwoyearsago,Ifoundtheatmospherefamiliar,ratherthanstrange.Theconstantcross-Straitsexchangesarehelpingpeopletoconnect,"hesaid.

（The Eslite bookstore chain aims tomake its Suzhou branch a cultural landmark. HE JUNCHANG/XINHUA）

'Morethanjustabookstore'

AtatimewhenmanymainlandbookstoresarestrugglingtosurvivethedoublewhammyofthedeclineofthetraditionalpublishingindustryandtheriseofInternetretailing,Taiwan'sEsliteBookstoresofferanexampleofhowtothriveinthedigitalera.

"Esliteisfarmorethanjustabookstore,"ColinLang,Eslite'sdirectorofoperationsfortheChinesemainland,said."InourfirstmainlandbranchinSuzhou,wewillcombinebookswithtraditionallocalartandcrafts,includingporcelainandpaper-cutart,tocreateaculturalatmosphere,alifestyle."

AccordingtoEslite'sdata,booksaccountforabout60percentofitssales,whiletheremaindercomesfromfood,kitchenware,music,wineandtoys,whicharesoldin"interstore"shops.

Eslitestoresarealsoopen24hours,amovecopiedlastyearbytheSanlianTaofenBookstore,aculturallandmarkincentralBeijing.FanXi'an,SanlianTaofen'sgeneralmanager,hasadmittedthatthechangewasinspiredbyEslite.

BookswillremainEslite'scoreactivity,Langsaid."Bookswillalwaysbethesoulofabookstore.Wehaveaprofessionalteamofbookselectors,andwearelookingfororiginalworkswithuniqueangles,artisticnarrativesanddesigns.Inthedigitalera,bookscan'tjustbewordsprintedonpaper;thebookitselfshouldbeapieceofartthatisworthbuyingandcollecting,"hesaid.