PANO – The second Hanoi old book fair is underway at the Hanoi University of Culture on January 9th and 10th, attracting the participation of 20 businesses and publishing houses with more than 40 booths.

Specifically, 80 per cent of the showcased books are old volumes; many of them were published several decades ago with various genres to meet the readers’ demand.

Organized by the Hanoi secondhand bookstore, the fair is expected to become a new cultural place for Hanoians and students to buy rare books that have been away from the market for some time.

In addition, it was reminiscent of the cultural beauty of local people in the past as they liked purchasing secondhand books, creating a typical feature amid the capital city’s modern life.

The organization panel also revives some traditional activities on the sidelines of the fair, such as make-shift shops, and “To he” making (or toy figurine made of glutinous rice powder in the form of edible figurines such as animals, flowers or characters from folk stories).

In December 2015, the first fair of this kind drew 10,000 local readers and sold about 30,000 books.

Van Hieu