It wasn’t your typical awards ceremony. At the 2025 “Zhejiang Publishing Media Best Books” event in Hangzhou, eight writers—including Cai Fang, Hai Fei, Huang Chuanhui, He Yunbo, Tsering Norbu, Wang Fan, Tang Rongxin, and Zhao Xia—skipped the grand theories and got real. They talked about the sweat and heart behind their stories, turning the gathering into a genuine feast of ideas.

The 15 winning titles showcase the best of Zhejiang Publishing Group’s past year. These are books that speak to the big issues of our time while keeping one foot firmly in everyday life.

And the authors? They made sure the night stayed warm—and a little quirky. “Even if I don’t get to read it, just having a book nearby puts me at ease,” admitted bestselling writer Hai Fei, confessing his “obsession” with paper. He joked about being hopeless with complicated apps on his phone, but give him a physical book and he's in his element. “I can be so busy on a trip that I never open it, but I’ll still keep one on my nightstand and another in my bag. Seeing books piled on the floor—that’s my comfort zone.”

Tang Rongxin, a practicing doctor, admitted he felt “totally out of place” sharing a stage with literary stars. But he quickly realized that books blur lines. “A story can bridge any gap,” he said, hoping his work Planting a Ray of Light would take root like a seed that “grows light out of the dark soil.”

Children’s author Zhao Xia offered the most poetic moment of the evening. “We need to light up the starry sky of childhood,” she said. A great kids’ book, she argued, is like “a shining star in the night sky of a kid’s life—so that whenever they look up, even in the darkest moments, they can see hope.”

To get these stories into more hands, Zhejiang Publishing Group donated copies of the winning books to the Hangzhou Branch of the National Archives of Publications and Culture, provincial and city libraries, local communities and subdistrict offices, six schools, and cultural outposts in rural Zhejiang. And the conversation doesn’t end here. Several of the authors will be touring across the province, meeting readers face-to-face at talks and book signings, sharing the moments that never made it onto the page.