Hello! Frankfurt
--Notes on the Frankfurt Book Fair

Eva, a 12-year-old girl, has been learning Chinese for six years in Bremen, Germany. Having heard that the Confucius Institute had a booth at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Eva and her father came to visit it. At the booth of China's Hanban, the name of the Confucius Institute headquarters, the girl was attracted by an audio Chinese-learning chart. Her father said she was fascinated by Chinese language and culture. Like Eva, many people, who were interested in Chinese language and fascinated by Chinese culture, visited the booth every day during the fair.

The book fair, known as the "Olympics of the Publishing Industry," was held from Oct. 14-18 in Frankfurt. For the first time, China participated in this international publishing gala as a guest of honor. It is also the first time for Hanban to have participated in the fair and it was the largest Chinese exhibitor at the fair. Hanban sent about 100 people to the fair -- over 20 people from the headquarters in Beijing and nearly 80 people, including directors, teachers and students, from more than 30 Confucius Institutes in Europe. During the book fair, Hanban achieved remarkable success not only in showing the features of Confucius Institutes around the world and the achievement of developing teaching resources but also in striking cooperation agreement with overseas prestigious universities and publishers.