The first HSR reading station in China is opened at Qinzhou East Railway Station on June 20. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The first high-speed railway (HSR) reading station in China was opened at Qinzhou East Railway Station in Qinzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region on June 20. It is a non-profit book-reading site and also the first one of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone Library Service Alliance.

Passengers read books at the reading station of Qinzhou East Railway Station. [Photo by Chen Lei/gx.people.com.cn]

The reading station is located in the waiting hall of Qinzhou East Railway Station, covering an area of about 27 square meters. It is equipped with self-service borrowing machines, electronic reading equipment, integrated e-book borrowing and reading machines, as well as more than 500 volumes of paper books and periodicals.

Books in various fields spanning history and culture, folk customs, as well as tourism resources are available, while works by Guangxi writers are also offered to visitors to learn more about Qinzhou and Guangxi. Readers are allowed to read and return books on site or take books on their trip to read and return them to any stations of the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone Library Alliance afterwards.

The Beibu Gulf Economic Zone Library Alliance currently includes HSR reading stations in Beihai, Qinzhou, and Fangchenggang.

The establishment of HSR reading stations aims to build a platform for book lending and returning, making reading on the road a way of life, as well as promoting the development of reading and cultural exchanges and integration between cities.

In the future, HSR reading stations will be gradually opened in other urban railway stations in the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone like those in Nanning, Yulin, and Chongzuo.