Mightier than the sword

That is why, Guo Yi, 35, of Beijing, finds reading poetry so precious. She is the founder of a reading group on WeChat called Reading Destroys Me. There are 144 people in the group, many from the IT industry, although the group is a little less active these days than it was when it was set up in 2014.

Then many members stayed up late talking about books they were reading, and some members reminisced over the beautiful nights when poetry lovers shared a poem before going to bed.

"Sharing poems every night is like a ritual to end a day, different from fast-paced work and the day's activities," Guo says.

"Many people also see it as something quite different to the mundanity of everyday living. Poetry presents a brand new perspective for us to see our lives and the world. So reading a "good night" poem provides a very good shift between different ways of living.

"Although people in Reading Destroys Me read various kinds of books, few read poetry.

"We had some members who have good taste, and they picked out some good poems, opening the gate to this literary genre."

Poetry is very important for humanity in this age, she says.