Heart of the countryside

Writer Li Er was not surprised when German Prime Minister Angela Merkel invited him for a talk, for the second time, during her visit to China last year. Merkel made the first request in 2007, but Li was looking after his cancer-stricken mother in Henan province and couldn't make the journey to Beijing.

When the two finally met, Merkel said she enjoyed Li's book because it provided her with a glimpse of China's contemporary countryside, a topic she wanted to learn more about.

What he didn't know back then was that the gift Merkel brought for Premier Wen Jiabao was the German translation of his 2004 novel Cherry on a Pomegranate Tree ( 石榴树上结樱桃).