"I don't want to go," the 8-year-old said firmly. "We have to finish the 'palace' for the princess which we specially designed for her."

Li had already spent the entire afternoon playing with two girls she had only just met.

But it seemed that their friendship was quickly and solidly forged through the miniature bricks since her two new friends were also reluctant to leave the tiny table after being "bothered" by their parents.

This situation has been replayed quite often since the Green Children's Toy Library, the first one in China, opened its doors in Beijing two weeks ago. As curator of the library, Zang Wei, 40, usually tells her assistants to delay closing in such circumstances.

"I just don't want to destroy their happiness and the sense of completion and success," said Zang.

In the past two weeks, the brand-new library has welcomed several hundred children aged from 6 to 14 with about 170 types of toys, which include dolls, bricks, blocks, paper-cuttings, jigsaw puzzles, as well as car and plane models.

Hidden in an antique courtyard near the northern section of the Second Ring Road, the library is located in Guozijian, the imperial college during the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The ancient architecture's timeless solemnity is now enlivened by the joyful laughter and cries of delight from children.

Zang said most of the visitors, both children and parents, did not quite understand what a toy library really was and how they would benefit from it.

The toy library is so named mostly because of its function as a happy hub for education, explained Ren Xingbang, a consultant to the China Toy Association, who has conducted research on toys for more than two decades.

Ren explained the three main functions of a toy library.

"A toy library is designed to enable children to play with certain types of toys that are appropriate to their age," Ren said. "It also educates parents how to select safe and suitable toys for their children. The final function is geared towards toy producers, in an effort to promote more design innovations," he said.

"It is a totally new concept to most Chinese people," Zang said. "But few children can resist returning after their first visit."

It is a paradise where they can forge friendships, find happiness, learn team-work and build wisdom."

Not merely 'play'

The driving force that led Zang to open a toy library originated from a poll about children conducted amongst 30,000 primary school students in Beijing in 2001.

The poll was designed to gather marketing information and was organized by Zang's company - Beijing Good Ideas Culture Exchange Co Ltd.

"I was shocked to see that 90 per cent of the children merely wrote one word 'play' when answering the question of what they love to do most," Zang recalled.

"I could feel their small but clear unhappiness from their answers although they were enjoying such nice education facilities and environments compared with my generation," said Zang.

"I believe it's partly because they lack opportunities to play."

Ren blamed the decline of entertainment in children's lives on the increasing burdens of study and parent's bias towards playing.

"Some parents still regard 'play' as a waste of time," he said. "But actually 'play' is virtually the center of a child's universe."

"Well-designed toys are the best tools for kids to improve their ability to solve problems, to foster good spirits, to test their courage and wisdom, to stimulate their creativity and to improve their health," Ren cited from "Toys and Education," a book published in the early 1990s and written by the famed late educator Chen Heqin (1892-1982), who established a Chinese style and scientific theory for modern children's education.

"An effective toy library can let parents know what kind of toys and games can most benefit their children," he added.

Good beginning

Mo Hongzhen said she felt a little disappointed when she first stepped into the 130-square-metre toy library with her 7-year-old daughter Wu Fan.

They spent two hours on a bus traveling to the library from Chaoyang District in the eastern part of Beijing after Mo caught glimpse of a piece of news introducing the library.

"Honestly, the place is not as good as what the news described," Mo said. "The room seems too small and there does not seem to be much variety."

But her apprehension soon disappeared as her daughter quickly immersed herself in jigsaw puzzles with another four children, the group beaming with smiles.

Zang admitted that the library was still small compared with those in foreign countries that had a longer history of development.

She had considered following the normal format of a toy library which welcomes children, their families and caregivers to come and to borrow well-designed toys, games, puzzles and equipment, which are made available at minimal cost.

But she finally designed the library as a place merely to offer toys for play but not to borrow because she worried about both financial problems and the potentially chaotic management of toys' return.

"The library is so far the sole one in such a large city and the return of toys would be a heavy task for borrowers who live far away," she said.

The high-quality toys that are currently offered are partly bought by the library and partly donated by Lego, one of the most popular toy brands among Chinese children.

To ensure safety and cleanliness throughout the toy library, the library only operates from 8:30 am to 11:30 am and 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm, leaving a two-hour noon period to sterilize the game room and all toys with ultraviolet-rays.

The six young assistants, who help in directing the children's play, are also strictly selected from normal schools who are familiar with child psychology and game design.

"To run a successful library without any practical models is not easy at the beginning," Zang said. "The library is growing, improving and enlarging day by day and I wish more toy libraries could be built in the city in the near future."

Both Ren and Zang wished the toy library could be a useful research base for Chinese toy designers for toy and doll innovations that adopt more national styles.

"A toy library can gather first-hand information about whether the toys fit children's interests which is vital to a successful toy maker," Zang said.

(China Daily January 23, 2003)