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Setting Sail in the Pandemic 疫下书展:阅读再启航 Returning after a year-long hiatus, the Hong Kong Book Fair gave back to the readers through a variety of discounts. 香港书展时隔两年终于得以举行，展商多方优惠， 暖心回馈久违的读者。 When the Hong Kong Book Fair (HKBF) was cancelled in 2020, our staff were visibly disappointed. Everything had already been prepared: new books shipped to the venue, booths set up, and promotional activities already in action. Months of preparation had gone up in smoke, as nobody had expected the cancellation to happen just a day before opening. However, Popular Hong Kong stayed positive to work on the next HKBF as “chance favours the prepared mind”. As the COVID-19 pandemic in Hong Kong began to stabilise, HKBF made a return in July 2021. This time round, Kam Pui Enterprises’ participation was represented by Ichiban Publishing and World Publishing Company. Redefining Publishing Although last year's HKBF was halted by the pandemic, Popular Hong Kong’s innovative and creative spirit was not. Kam Pui Enterprises’ World Publishing Company, Seashore Publishing, and Ichiban Publishing have continued to bring the latest publications from well-received authors to the readers, like illustrator Lobintan; Elizabeth Chow, whose happy recipes have helped her readers to maintain a good figure; the Finnish authors of the "CupOfTherapy" series; illustrator Kaiki Chan, who teaches drawing to children; and photographer Schindler Leung. Changing trends mean that cooking is no longer just a passion for most readers. Ichiban Publishing launched Cooking Up a Business: Selling Cakes Online to give young entrepreneurs a hand. Beside recipes, this new book also features interviews with three owners of popular bakery shops, as well as analyses by entrepreneurial experts and scholars. Meanwhile, World Publishing Company launched fun and educational children’s books such as Astronomy Picture Book for Children, part of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education series, which utilises beautiful illustrations to lead children into the vast universe and learn about astronomy from the stories. The Learn Composition with Comics series provides a happy learning experience for the children through vivid and humorous comics to enhance the fun of learning Chinese composition. Discounts Galore To maintain safe distancing, the HKBF 2021 organiser limited the number of visitors to just 85% of the venue’s capacity. This added to the exhibitors’ challenge as they went all out to attract visitors to their booths. POPULAR did so by showcasing our best- selling titles, offering various discounts on supplementary learning materials, rewarding our customers with coupons and gifts, as well as setting up a game station to create a festive shopping ambience. We also got a head start by offering students and their parents a sneak preview of the sheer variety of discounts in a brochure distributed to the schools prior to HKBF 2021. Included within were coupons to irresistible deals, like a HK$20 discount for purchases of HK$200 or more, a subscription to the Sherlock Holmes comics series for just HK$10, and vouchers to redeem bear-shaped honey gummies. Watching students and their parents make redemptions during HKBF 2021 filled our staff with a huge sense of accomplishment. No effort was spared in planning the free gifts for the visitors, as we prioritised exquisiteness and practicality. For purchases of recipe books, our customers received a free Lee Kum Kee soup base gift set to let them enjoy the convenience and fun of cooking. Customers purchasing children’s books received a free three- dimensional eraser or the made-in-Korea AMOS clay, encouraging children to utilise their creativity and imagination after their reading. Undoubtedly, the recipe book that offered the best value was Best of the Best, which only cost HK$78 for an entire set of six volumes and came with a Lee Kum Kee soup stock gift pack and a cartoon-themed shopping bag. "Wow, what a bargain!" We constantly heard such exclamations whenever introducing this offer was made available to customers. The rich content and the amazing discounts made this combo a must-buy for our customers. By Catherine Chan (Hong Kong) 文:陈慧娴(香港) 136 popularnews - 5