The 31st National Book Expo opened on July 27 in Jinan, East China's Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 31st National Book Expo opened on July 27 in Jinan, East China's Shandong province. More than 1,700 publishers from around the country will present more than 700,000 titles, both at the Shandong International Convention and Exhibition Center and online.

The five-day expo also features more than 750 events in Jinan, Linyi and Xinhua Bookstores in other cities of the province. Special exhibitions include those about fine books, green prints, children's books and farmers' libraries.

This year's expo will apply new technologies such as AI and the metaverse to build a digital book city, giving readers and visitors a new experience. On the eight islands in the digital book city are 33 exhibition halls presenting nearly 10,000 book titles.

Visitors can also participate in activities related to 56 national intangible cultural heritage items and 62 provincial intangible cultural heritage items in Shandong, including Jinan shadow play and Peking Opera.

The 31st National Book Expo opened on July 27 in Jinan, East China's Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 31st National Book Expo opened on July 27 in Jinan, East China's Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The 31st National Book Expo opened on July 27 in Jinan, East China's Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]