Educating the West

The world's oldest publishing house, the Cambridge University Press, has just signed a copyright license agreement with one of China's youngest publishing houses, the China Intercontinental Press, to import a book series called Cultural China.

Consisting of 30 books, the series is divided into three major volumes: volume one on "intangible heritage" focuses on Chinese thought, wisdom and art, volume two on "tangible heritage" focuses on craftwork, technologies and objects, and volume three on "folk custom and human lives" deals with people's clothing, food, housing, healthcare and entertainment.

"This series is for the educated general public in the West," says Stephen Bourne, chief executive of Cambridge University Press. "There is a lot of interest in China in the world. We hope people can get to know more about China through these concise books."