Shoved into Cheng Qidi's room is a bulky bookcase, all three of its shelves full of books sorted by their subjects. Dozens of books occupy most of the desk that's beside the bookcase, while on the wall is a poster of U.S. basketball star Allen Iverson.

"You see all those books there, but few of them hold my interest," Cheng, a high school student in Beijing's Fengtai District, commented to Beijing Review.

While China has traditionally emphasized the importance of literacy and reading, many children today seem to have little interest in books beyond comics and cartoons. The high price of books also tends to discourage a love of reading, some parents say.

Schoolwork pressure

In Cheng's bookcase are piles of reference books dealing with English and ancient Chinese poetry exercises; several guides on the college entrance exam are in a prominent position.

"Some of them were bought at the school's request, some were picked up for me by my mom, but I barely have any time for these books," said Cheng. "Especially for those college entrance exam guide books, which are totally beyond my present ability. I don't understand a bit of them."

He then closes the door to his room and unlocks the drawer to his desk. "These are what I've been reading. I read them slowly, because each day I don't have time for myself until 10 o'clock at night when I finish my schoolwork," Cheng said.

Among the books are Family, the story of a disintegrating feudal household by Ba Jin, one of China's most revered writers, and Norwegian Wood, a popular novel by the renowned Japanese writer Haruki Murakami.

"My parents don't know I've been reading these, and if they find out they'll confiscate them," Cheng said.

"I spend an average of two hours on my schoolwork, then I've got to go over my lessons," he said. "My schedule is set by my parents. They tell me to go to bed at 10 and I'm allowed to do nothing but study before 10.

"Even if I finish everything ahead of bedtime, I have to do other exercises instead of doing my own reading. So the only time I get to read is the period between when I go to bed and when I fall asleep. I don't know whether my classmates like reading books or not, but I assure you that even if they do, they don't have time for that, just like me," he added.

"But of course, I'll close my door and do my reading on the sly from time to time, and I'm quick enough to hide the book before my parents come into my room to inspect," Cheng said.

At the bottom of the drawer is a comic book called Slam Dunk. "I also like basketball, but I have little time to watch the NBA games on TV," Cheng said. "Many of my classmates are also reading this, it's pretty good."

He noted, "I understand my parents, and try my utmost to do what they want me to do, but I won't give up my reading. When I go to college, I'll have time to finish all the books that I've been looking forward to reading."

Comics and cartoons popular

Not all children are like Cheng, who is immersed in schoolwork and deprived of the time to read. So, what's popular among those who have the time to read?

A middle school teacher in Nanning, capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, conducted a small-scale survey of around 100 students in his class to find out what their favorite books were. The answer was Duzhe (Readers) magazine, the Chinese equivalent of U.S. publication Reader's Digest. But the result was quite different from other surveys.

Another survey conducted in the same city showed that the favorite reading materials among primary school students were comic books, fairy tales and students' composition collections; the results from middle school students showed a wider range.

Among the 112 books that have been read by first grade students in Nanning's No. 14 High School, comic books topped the list with 31. Of the total, 37 were detective stories, love stories, tales of chivalry and campus literature, while nine were Chinese classical literature books.