Editor's Note:

In an age of information overload, reading remains a necessary channel to invigorate the mind, provide inspiration and cultivate virtue. Whether it is childhood enlightenment or the pursuits of adulthood, everyone's reading journey carries unique emotions and life experiences.

The Global Times has specially launched the "100 Avid Readers" series, inviting guests from various fields to share their connections with books, stories of growth and sparks of thought. 

In this installment, Wang Liuyun, who works as a cleaner in Beijing and has also insisted on reading, writing and painting for decades, shares her reading story. For Wang, reading has always nourished her spirit and inspired her creations.

Wang Liuyun Photo: Courtesy of Wang

She wakes up at 5 am, reads for an hour, then cleans the public areas of her neighborhood; after lunch, she paints or writes, then goes back to her job as a street cleaner; after work, she continues to paint, write, and read.

This is a typical day for Wang Liuyun. She said that in the amid her busy life, reading feels like eating when hungry. She always keeps a book by her side, and feels uneasy if she does not read a few pages in the morning and at night.

Wang, 60, was born into a farming family in Xinhua county, Central China's Hunan Province. She left high school after just half a year and later worked as a shop assistant, a tailor, a waitress, and now a cleaner.

In 2017, she saw on television the story of a man in his 60s learning to paint. Deeply moved, Wang, then 51, set out on her own to study oil painting at a studio in East China's Fujian Province. Her story of learning to paint was covered by the media, bringing her to the public's attention.

In 2020, Wang came to Beijing, where she moved from one place to another, working as a street cleaner. 

Although her surroundings have changed, Wang noted that reading, painting, and writing have always been her constant companions.

To date, Wang has published three collections of nonfiction works and one novel, and created more than 100 paintings.

"I keep reading, painting, and writing. This feeds my soul and allows me to become a spiritually rich person," Wang said. 

Reading, for her, has had a deep influence on her writing. She told the Global Times that it is precisely because she has read widely and persistently for decades, thinking deeply along the way, that she can observe and understand life with depth and openness. By choosing to read classics and historical works, she has been able to portray human nature and social environments accurately in her own writing.

Reading for yourself

Wang readily admitted that her journey in reading, which began in her childhood, has been far from easy, but she has never given up.

When she was young and did not know many Chinese characters, if there were no book to read, Wang would visit her cousin's house, where newspapers were pasted on the walls and ceiling. She would climb on a stool and, with her face close to the wall, try to read the stories on the newspaper, guessing the meanings of the words as she went.

At 11 years old, she once found a tattered book while rummaging through boxes. The book was incomplete and written in traditional Chinese characters, but she was fascinated by the beauty of the writing, so she read it over and over, even though she could not understand everything. Only later did she realize it was Chinese ancient classic A Dream of Red Mansions.

Wang said that she loves A Dream of Red Mansions, and has read it no fewer than five times, including three times with special attention to specific details and wordings.

"For me, reading great books is even more rewarding than eating delicious food. I also learn writing techniques from these classics," Wang told the Global Times. Later, in her oldest sister's attic, she found The Count of Monte Cristo, an adventure story by Alexandre Dumas that has charmed generations of readers. This was the first foreign novel she read. As she grew older, she finally managed to get a library card for the county library, and also went to bookstores just to read for free. 

"I read along the bookshelves, picking whatever I could find, reading hungrily."

When it comes to foreign literature, Wang is especially fond of Russian works, such as Maxim Gorky's My Universities and Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. These books were, to her, remedies for life's pain, soothing her heart in difficult times.

"In my early, closed-off and lonely years, I was sensitive, irritable, and suspicious - a weak soul with nowhere to find support. Luckily, I chose to keep on reading. The classic words washed over me like rain on stone, softening and nurturing me, until moss grew on the rock and even tiny flowers began to bloom. Gradually, I learned how to face my flaws with calm," Wang recalled. "You must understand that reading is something you do for yourself."

Power of reading

In Wang's view, the world is inside books, and a person's character is shaped by years of reading. These are real treasures worth holding on to. Even now, though she makes her living as a street cleaner, she is at peace and satisfied, because she possesses these "treasures."

For Wang, reading is her most important spiritual companion. While working in Beijing, bookstores in the city she visits welcomes her with warmth and acceptance. On holidays or days off, Wang goes to the nearest Xinhua Bookstore, finds a row of shelves, and begins to read.

After decades of reading, Wang began producing her own works. Every word she writes is typed on her mobile phone, sometimes even during the minute or two when she waits for a traffic light to change. She hopes that by writing about her own experiences, she can give readers the strength to walk out of each dark night and persevere.

In these rapidly changing times, reading is a way to enrich the spirit and cultivate the mind. Wang has come to deeply appreciate the power of reading, and hopes to pass that power on to others.