Book club transcends written word
Print Edition
In Putuo’s Caoyang Community, a group of seniors gather every month for a book club that gives them much more than words and sentences.
This month, members of “Meeting on the 15th” met for the 100th time since it was founded in 2005. Now with 46 members, the book club meets every month on the 15th, although if it falls on a weekend they move it to the following Monday.
What started as a book club has become a forum where retired seniors in the neighborhood come to discuss hot topics, learn useful knowledge and most importantly, make new friends. They still call it a book club, but it’s more like a friendly gathering where everyone can exchanges ideas.
Zha Guigen, 73, organizes the meetings and has been a member from the start. Every month, he and the core group meet up to come up with topics for discussion.
“We focus on culture, everyday life, trends and news,” Zha said. “We have people who actively contribute to the discussions as well as those who are eager to learn new things.”
Their top priority is to form a study group so members can learn from the speakers. Those who wish to contribute their opinions often spend a significant amount of time preparing, looking up information in books and on the Internet.
Past topics include festivals, environmental protection, financial crisis, food safety, tea culture, quizzes as well as field trips to museums and other places.
“Now it’s a place where everyone can meet new people and communicate, something we don’t normally have at other times,” Zha said. “They are willing to participate in the activities including field trips, so there’s a lot of positive energy going around.”
In the beginning, they had around 20 members, now the group has more than doubled in size.
“I don’t worry about whether there are too few people, but that there are too many and not everyone will get the chance to contribute,” he said.
Before their meeting this month, a member handed out chengyu (Chinese idioms) with the character Ma (Âí, horse) as it’s the Year of the Horse. They talked about the Lantern Festival and discussed the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of the China Central Committee.
After the meeting, organizers prepared frozen tangyuan (sticky rice dumplings) for everyone to take home.
Wu Ye, 72, is an active member who speaks almost every time since joining in 2008.
“We talk about almost everything, including economics, culture, health and fitness,” Wu said. “I’m especially interested in news and international relations.”
He prepares and does research carefully. To speak for 10 to 15 minutes at the meeting, Wu often has material for at least half an hour, and he shares the best parts with everyone.
“I think through discussion, I’m improving myself and my life is more interesting and meaningful,” he said. “Even though each meeting is only two hours, I spend much more time reading books, newspapers and browsing the Internet.”
It’s also a way to practice thinking, which is good for the brain,” Wu said.
“I never look at my notes while I speak. I memorize them, making it like an exercise,” he said. “I’m bringing knowledge and happiness to others while they are also doing the same thing. We are equal here and I think this platform is great.”
Lu Jingye is the eldest member of the book club. Now 83, he still comes to every meeting with his wife. Before retiring, he was a senior engineer. He said back then he had many learning opportunities that are gone now.
“I moved to Putuo in 2003, when I learned about this book club in the neighborhood I wanted to see what it was all about,” Lu said. “The topics are diverse, for me it’s also constantly learning new things.”
For him, this book club is like a community college for the elderly, a great opportunity he wouldn’t pass up.
“Another advantage is making friends,” Lu said.
Friendship is also a main reason why Shen Lide attends the book club regularly.
“I’m a 73-year-old primary school student,” he said, joking about the club. “It’s where I can meet people who share the same interests and have common language.”
During the eight years, many members have become good friends. Even though some moved to other parts of the city, they still come back every month for the meeting. Here, everyone knows each other by name.
Zha pointed out that when they established the book club, they had four standards: with rules, core, leadership and evaluation. They have their own agenda, and members sign in when attending meetings. They take at least two field trips every year, to places like Shajiabang (Jiangsu Province) and Hengsha in Chongming County.
The book club also functions as a think tank, because they cover a broad range of topics, their opinions are also valued by the community.
The neighborhood committee takes the ideas seriously and invited them to be consultants and supervisors, actively participating in community management. Half of their suggestions regarding the environment, culture and livelihoods have been taken up by the administrators.
They are also a force in community cultural development. Their works are often seen in various competitions, film festivals and exhibitions. Among the members there are sculptors, painters and cartoonists.
With numerous artists in the group, the meetings can be creative and very interesting. In 2012, the Year of the Dragon, members made paintings and calligraphy works to celebrate and share. They also created cartoons when they discussed health and fitness.
“The community recognizes that we are trying to help, and they participate with passion and dedication,” Zha said. “There are many people who wish to contribute and volunteer.”
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