Have you seen the latest magazine spread about Wordsworth’s home at Rydal Mount?
Well, it’s most unlikely that you have seen it, but millions of Chinese readers have.
The feature article and many photographs appear in the current edition of the Chinese edition of World Traveller, the world’s most influential travel magazine.
The editor and a camera crew visited Rydal Mount near Ambleside earlier this year when they came to make a TV documentary as well as a magazine feature.
The team from World Traveller TV and Magazine, who are described by VisitBritain as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of media in China, were also making a travel and tourism documentary.
They were accompanied by VisitBritain host Eva Shen who said that Wordsworth was regarded as a “literary giant” in China.
Her colleague, World Traveller magazine editor Jiang Yi, said that Wordsworth’s poetry was studied by all students of literature in Chinese universities.
The visitors were given a tour of the house and grounds by curator Peter Elkington, and they were each presented with a welcome pack hand-written in Chinese by a Chinese member of the Rydal Mount staff.
Peter has now seen a copy of the magazine. “We are thrilled with the coverage,” he said. “We have a Chinese member of staff who has translated the article for us, and we are really pleased to see so many photos of the house and gardens.
“The Chinese market is increasingly important for us, and we can tell how enthusiastic our visitors are about Wordsworth and his poetry.”
The accompanying film is soon to be shown on TV throughout China.
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