For Zhao Jiang, who prefers to go by her Tamil name Kalaimakal, writing a book in Tamil would have seemed unthinkable when she first began learning what appeared to be an undecipherable script in a Chinese university classroom some 15 years ago.

Today, as a fluent Tamil-speaker and the director of the government-run China Radio International’s (CRI) Tamil station, which commands an impressive audience of more than 25,000 dedicated listeners in Tamil Nadu alone, Ms. Zhao has taken it upon herself to foster closer ties between China and southern India, a usually overlooked destination for Chinese travellers.

This week, Ms. Zhao’s first book in Tamil — which, as far as she knows, might even be the first ever Tamil book authored by a Chinese — will debut at the ongoing Chennai Book Fair, which runs until January 23 at the YMCA College Ground in Nandanam. The book will be available at the stall of publishers Gowtham Pathippagam…read more.