A letter of gratitude

Tang's visit was not the first time the "literary county" initiative had crossed mountains. Six months earlier, it was launched in Xiushui county nestled among misty hills in eastern Jiangxi province. That event featured Alai.

When Alai arrived in Mabian for this second March edition, he received an unexpected gift in the form of a letter that Xiushui readers had carried more than 1,300 kilometers.

The letter invoked a famous literary friendship from a thousand years ago — that of Huang Tingjian and Su Shi, two towering poets of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

"Their poems and responses crossed mountains and rivers," the letter reads. "It was through living, breathing, human interaction and the collision of minds that they created immortal works."

Alai notes that Huang Tingjian, a Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) scholar from Xiushui who wrote some of his finest verses during his exile in Sichuan, had already forged a bond between the two regions through his poetry.

Now literature was forging that bond again, as the Xiushui and Mabian literature federations signed a cooperation agreement at a ceremony in Mabian.

Asked about literature's most fundamental gift, Tang says it lies in discovering and feeling the beauty of life and the world, enriching the soul and unlocking creativity.

Before leaving Mabian, Tang offered one last piece of advice to the children who had gathered around her.

"Reading is the key to the world, which has places our feet cannot reach and sights our eyes cannot see."

Ding Yangsi, a fifth-grader at Minjian Primary School, says he developed a fondness for literature after meeting the writers.

When he learned that Tang was coming to Mabian, he picked up Story of the Silly Wolf.

"I found it really interesting," says the boy, who usually reads history and military affairs.

He says the fairy tale made him smile and showed him that words could be gentle, humorous, and meaningful.

"I'll surely read more of her books."

Yu Rong, the school's vice-principal for two decades, has witnessed the long-term effects of such programs.

"Every child who picks up a book, every writer who visits — it all adds up. The positive results will come,"Yu says.

For Tang, that is precisely the point.

"The goal is not to train writers," she says. "It's to nurture imagination and help people see the beauty in life."