The "Bertelsmann Blue Sofa Show" is a unique live stage production where writers are invited to hold dialogue with readers.

It is initiated by international media giant, Bertelsmann and debuted in Europe five years ago. Many big names from the global literary community have been invited to share with the public their thoughts and personal experiences.

In May 2002, the Direct Group Bertelsmann presented "Bertelsmann Blue Sofa" for the first time in China. Since then the activity has been held at major art and book events several times.

This year it was staged during the Beijing International Book Fair, which was held between September 2 and 5. "Blue Sofa" invited 10 Chinese writers including Haiyan, Bi Shumin, Ma Yuan, Ge Fei and Zhou Guoping.

The following are extracts of the dialogue between Haiyan and his readers.

R= reader

H= Haiyan

R: Many of your characters lead a dismal life, I feel that they are all very lonely. Most writers themselves are also very lonely and live in solitude. But I feel that you are very good at coping with people from outside your inner world. How do you get the right balance?

H: Basically I am a double-dealer. I believe that all those who are engaged in literary writing, whether they write novels or poem, dramas, are lonely. In their hearts there must be grievance that cannot be told, or loneliness that can not be shared with others. Whether he is rich or poor, he or she lives a busy life or in solitude, there is only something on the surface. A lonely person does not always wear loneliness on their face.

R: You are a very prolific writer. Through which ways do you enrich yourself?

H: I am a very strange person. Unconventional. I almost never read. Except that I read my company's financial report forms, and newspapers. So now even I feel confused - I should have dried up, but I haven't. Your question is very difficult to answer. You might say I am a genius, but I know that's not the case. Somebody once deducted that since I work at hotel I am well fed. Of course, that was a joke!

R: How do you find out (literary) tastes enjoyed by readers?

H: I have never studied readers' tastes. My impression is that, on one hand, people have very high tastes, but on the other , their tastes are very low. Some shabby books, which I look down upon, enjoy good readership. But under other circumstances, readers are unprecedentedly critical of what they don't like. I feel that their scorn and disdain is unprecedented. So every man of words writes with reverence and awe of not really knowing what will stimulate readers.

H: But some details and ideas contained and conveyed in your novels do attract many readers.

R: There are two possibilities. It might be that I make a lucky guess. It also might be that I have much in common with readers. I myself, am a reader. I don't live in the literati world. I live among my readers. I can easily understand what kind of narration and story they like.

R: You have been working in the field of hotel management for many years. Have you ever thought of writing novels using this as a backdrop?

H: I am considering writing a cartoon script, and the protagonists of the story will be hotel staff. I do this at the invitation of a publishing house. Two of my novels, "Jade Goddess of Mercy" (Yu Guanyin) and "How Can I Save You, My Lover" (Na Shenme Zhengjiu Ni, Wo de Airen), will also be adapted to cartoons and will be out soon.

R: Do you think the soap operas based on your novels correctly reflect the original works? Are those TV dramas, better or worse than novels?

H: I think it is difficult to make such a comparison, just like you can not compare soy sauce with vinegar. They have two completely different conformations. Novels perfectly express what I want to express, while TV dramas are mixed with ideas of directors, actors, actresses, photographers and so on. But however hard people try to be loyal to original works, TV dramas can not replace the novel. And vice versa.

(China Daily September 20, 2004)