The official Chinese version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows went on sale in bookstores yesterday, almost two months after an unofficial version was posted on the Internet.
One million copies of the book were printed by the People's Literature Publishing House in Beijing, which owns the copyright of the Chinese language version of the bestselling series for the Chinese mainland.
Priced at 66 yuan ($8.80), the book about a boy wizard could be the most expensive children's book in the country, where the average monthly disposable income was about 1,000 yuan ($133) last year.
Pan Kaixiong, vice-president of the publishing house said nearly 10 million copies of the previous six installments have been sold in Chinese, and the number is rising. Globally, the Harry Potter series has been translated into more than 60 languages and 325 million copies have been sold, earning $6 billion.
"We are ready to print more copies of the Chinese version at any time," said Sun Shunlin, editor of the Chinese versions, adding that more than 180,000 copies of the last installment were distributed to Beijing bookstores on Saturday night.
To prevent pirated versions, the publishing house signed special contracts with bookstores and printing houses.
But there are fears the unofficial translations online could damage sales of the official printed version.
Dozens of translations of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows can be downloaded for free.
It is believed they were translated by fans just days after the release of the official English version in August.
Chinese fans are going even a step further by writing their own versions of the ending as well as other wizard adventures.
One of the most popular readings online is "Past Time of Lily Evans and James Potter", about the relationship of Harry's parents and his professor Severus Snape as well as stories of their friends, written by a 13-year-old girl.
Questions:
1. Which publishing house printed the official version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Chinese?
2. How many copies has the publishing house sold of the previous six installments in Chinese?
3. Who did the first Chinese translation of the latest Harry Potter book?
4. What is the name of the most popular online story related to Harry Potter written in Chinese?
Answers:
1.People’s Literature Publishing House.
2.10 million.
3.Harry Potter fans.
4.“Past Time of Lily Evans and James Potter”.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.
