Since October the folks at The Bookworm have worked like maniacs putting together this year’s Bookworm Beijing International Literary Festival (BBILF). We chatted up head organizer and self-described “behind-the-scenes lass” Jenny Niven to get the beef on BBILF

Small Talk With ...A Book Fiend

How does it feel going from behind-the-scenes lass to media superstar in the pages of CW magazine? Oh, god. I think it’s more celebrity than I can possibly handle. So, go ahead, make your pitch: why should I get off my duff to go see the BBILF? First, I think it’ll definitely be more fun than sitting around on your bum, but we have been working really hard on this since October of last year, and I think we've got a good program put together that you would be daft to miss. This is all just a big scam to get your mom [poet Liz Niven, one of the festival’s presenters] publicity, right? [laughing] Yes, that’s it! The entire thing is created for her, yeah. What kind of impact are you hoping the festival’s going to have this year? I think Beijing is of a size and a scale now that people should be able to expect big names and good cultural events. We're delivering that. So there will be some big names, but there'll still be a chance for author interaction, right? Well that’s exactly what we’re aiming for. Most of your readers have probably been to the Bookworm, and we are a small setup. It is intimate. And to assist that, we’ve programmed travel writing workshops, poetry workshops, story-telling workshops and other kinds of opportunities to get right in there. And the future? Will the 2009 BBILF be even bigger? Absolutely, yes.

Everyone Is Talking About ...Non-Smoking Beijing

Less smoke is great, but how will we breathe without the filters?
Chinese Premier Wen Jia Bao has promised a “smoke-free Olympics,” and Beijing has already implemented a ban on smoking in taxis and is promising the next stage in its smoking bans this May. By August, we will see smoking bans in the majority of public places, including 70 percent of the city's hotel rooms, cultural heritage sites, fitness centers, schools, some government offices and all Olympic venues. The fine for breaking the smoking ban would be a whopping ￥50.

That’s right: Light up a Zhong Nan Hai during the Olympics and face a fine as cheap as a pack of Lesser Pandas.

The ￥50 deterrent will doubtlessly be more effective than pleas from Beijing authorities last year to ban smoking in restaurants. When authorities sent out requests to 30,000 restaurants to ban smoking, only one heeded the call: Meizhou Dongpo. After banning smoking four months ago, Beijing’s first smoke-free Chinese restaurant chain already faces going out of business, having lost as much as 80 percent of its business.

In a nation that houses a third of the world’s smokers, restrictions on smoking won't snuff out the habit overnight, but they will have an effect. The ban on smoking in cabs has been highly effective, especially among cab drivers, who face fines up to ￥200 for smoking on the job.

Moreover, fewer and fewer Beijingers are smoking each year. While smoking among women is on the rise (up to 10.4 percent from 8.8 percent in 1997), smoking among Beijing citizens has dropped to 23 percent from 34.5 percent in 1997.

While Beijing might not be smoke free by August, the Olympics are definitely providing a push in the right direction.

News You Can Use:

Trader Vic’s Closes
Not yet open two months, Trader Vic’s is already packing up its tiki and sailing off into the Pacific sunset. According to a source who worked at the Beijing location, the axe fell quickly, with word coming down from headquarters in Dubai–Trader Vic's is headquartered in Dubai?–that they were to close up shop within days.

Terminal 3 Arrives On Time
Unlike a number of the flights at Beijing’s airport, recently ranked by Forbes.com as one of the worst in the world for on-time departures, Beijing’s new airport terminal has arrived on schedule. The mammoth new terminal will launch British Airways flights on Feb 29, with Air China and pretty much everyone else to follow on March 26.

Olympics Arrive, Banks Go Boom
And not the good kind of boom. According to Guo Ligen, the vice-chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, all the increased activity from the influx of bank-card wielding Olympic visitors in August has a very real chance of overloading the country’s fragile financial system. Guo urged banks to get on top of the matter via increased IT investment.

Tavern Poker League in the Works?
Word has it that some of the more popular establishments in the Sanlitun/Gongti area, including The Kro’s Nest, Sequoia and The Rickshaw may soon team up for a tavern poker league. Though nothing’s solidified just yet, it's not too early to start working on your card counting skills.