“Reading the River City through Engineering, Sharing the Fragrance of Foreign Literature” — Wuhan Institute of Technology and Foreign Languages Bookstore Jointly Hold Reading Festival Cultural Co-Building Activity
On the afternoon of May 7, 2026, Wuhan Institute of Technology and Foreign Languages Bookstore jointly organized the cultural co-building activity titled “Reading the River City through Engineering, Sharing the Fragrance of Foreign Literature.” Using reading as a bond and culture as a bridge, the university and enterprise collaboratively created a new scenario integrating the development of a scholarly campus and a scholarly city through activities such as urban culture sharing, classic literature reading, and psychological stage performances.
At the beginning of the event, the university’s “Metro Imprint” team presented a themed sharing session titled “Reading the City through the Metro, Discovering Wuhan through Reading.” From the perspective of architecture, the team interpreted the historical heritage and cultural texture of Wuhan’s landmark buildings by treating the city as a scroll and architecture as its chapters. They also shared the urban stories behind miniature seal engravings. The presentation systematically demonstrated the design concept of “one line, one color; one station, one scene,” connecting Wuhan’s thousand-year cultural heritage and modern urban landscape through more than 300 customized seals, enabling the audience to better understand and appreciate Wuhan through architectural aesthetics.
During the classic reading session, Zhu Ruiping, an undergraduate student majoring in Architecture, delivered an in-depth presentation on The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham. From the author’s life and narrative structure to character destinies and spiritual themes, she clearly interpreted the symbolic meanings of the “moon” as ideals and the “sixpence” as reality. Her sharing encouraged young people to find balance between ideals and reality, remain true to their aspirations, and nourish their spiritual growth through the power of literature.
Guided by the themes of reading and psychological growth, students from Wuhan Institute of Technology vividly performed a situational drama portraying the confusion, reflection, and transformation experienced by contemporary university students during their growth journey. By organically integrating the power of reading with psychological care, the performance conveyed a youthful attitude of self-exploration and positive personal growth, resonating strongly with the audience.
Following the sharing and performance sessions, faculty members and students strolled through the bookstore’s diverse reading spaces, browsing Chinese and international classics as well as humanities and social science publications amid the rich atmosphere of books and culture. From listening to in-depth interpretations of urban culture, to appreciating the spiritual power of literary classics, and finally immersing themselves in direct reading experiences and intellectual dialogue with great thinkers, participants completed an immersive transition from “listening to books” to truly “experiencing books.”
This event represents a practical initiative jointly undertaken by Wuhan Institute of Technology and the Foreign Languages Bookstore to deepen university-enterprise collaboration and promote cultural education. Combining intellectual depth, artistic expression, and practical engagement, the activity not only demonstrated the achievements of humanities education within an engineering-oriented university, but also highlighted the guiding role of urban cultural landmarks in promoting nationwide reading initiatives. Through a youthful perspective, the event revitalized urban cultural vitality and injected fresh youthful momentum into the development of a scholarly Wuhan.
