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Health & Fitness

Patch Blog: 'Open Hearts, Open Doors' at the Library

"Preservation Contributes to Cultural Identity" —Elizabeth Gill Lui

Before Lisa See’s standing room only Author Night appearance at the on Oct. 20, the South Pasadena Chinese-American Club presented a copy of a beautiful book to both the bestselling novelist and to the Library.

The book was 'Open Hearts, Open Doors: Reflections on China’s Past and Future' by Elizabeth Gill Lui—a lavish, bilingual (English and Mandarin) coffee table book.

It provides a visual tour of traditional villages throughout rural areas of southeastern China. The photos were taken between 1995 and 2006 while Elizabeth Lui was a visiting artist at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in the Architecture Department.

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The stunning images depict historic streetscapes, agricultural vistas, and villages that Lui believes should be saved because preservation enhances cultural identity so much. The book’s theme is very compelling because China has already destroyed about 75 percent of the old city of Beijing, including hundreds of Ming dynasty dwellings, in favor of a new financial district, “Open Hearts, Open Doors” is an important reflection on efforts to help China to preserve a valuable part of its rich cultural legacy.

Ms. Lui was in the audience for the Lisa See event and declared, “I feel honored to have the South Pasadena Chinese-American Club gift my book to the Library. I hope that the community will be able to join with me in a commitment to fighting for heritage preservation in China. Elizabeth Gill Lui has been scheduled for an Author Night in the South Pasadena Public Library Community Room on October 18, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. She has also written “Building Diplomacy: The Architecture of American Embassies” and “Closed Mondays.”

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Stop by the library to check out a copy!

Besides the Library and SPCC, the Lisa See Author Night was also sponsored by the Friends of the South Pasadena Library and Poets & Writers, Inc. with the Financial Support of the James Irvine Foundation.

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