A foreign friend’s first time seeing Chinese picture-story books—mind blown! LICC host Scarlett took a Canadian boy named Lucas on a tour of the Chinese Picture-Story Books Exhibition, where he was amazed from start to finish: “No superheroes, no flashy special effects—just stories about ordinary people’s daily lives. Yet they’re the most touching tales I’ve ever come across. So cool!”

Xiaorenshu, or Lianhuanhua (Chinese picture-story book) is like China’s “silent film”, with each illustration unfolding like a “film shot”. The compositions are so well-designed and the details are so rich that one can grasp the entire plot without a single word. “I can tell what the characters are thinking, even without reading the text!” Lucas exclaimed, “I’ve never seen such powerful artwork before.”

It turns out that the most touching cultural expressions are always rooted in the lives of ordinary people. The charm of Chinese stories lies in the vibrant lives depicted in Xiaorenshu.