We begin in Shenzhen, where the National Book Expo is taking place. One of the highlights there is a special printing booth, where visitors can experience the entire traditional process of printing. CGTN's She Li tells us more -- from crafting paper to laying out type and learning how to stitch a traditional thread-bound book.

Ask someone to imagine printing today, and they're likely to imagine fancy machinery and modern mass production. But here at this special section of the National Book Expo, set up by the China Printing Museum, visitors are invited to experience something different. The exhibition takes us all way back, to the origins of one of China's most ancient crafts, type-printing. Characters were selected in advance and lined up in the proper order to serve as the blueprint for the finished product.

SHEN LI SHENZHEN CONVENTION & EXHIBITION CENTER "For printing is one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China, today, we are going to see exactly how great of an invention it is."

In China, the development of printing had three key phases: in the very beginning there was woodblock printing, which emerged in the Han dynasty dating back to 220 BC; then came Movable Type, created around 1000 AD; and, finally, modern Laser Photocomposing. The invention of printing is generally considered to be one of the defining inventions for the advancement of civilizations.

SUN BAOLIN CHINA PRINTING MUSEUM "Print gave a broader range of readers access to knowledge and enabled later generations to build on the intellectual achievements of earlier ones. Printing also created a sustained and uniform reference for knowledge as well as allowing for comparison between incompatible views. Here, visitors are able to see different processes, from the making of circular paper fans, to printing, to stitching their own thread-bound books. I'm sure people will walk away with a deeper feeling for the technique as well as the Chinese characters themselves."

"I'm adding some stamps on to the tote bags -- gifts for my kids. I've chosen the zodiac signs for my kids and Bi Sheng, creator of moveable type printing. I think it's quite meaningful for the kids to learn about their own culture."

Some people may say the days of Bi Sheng are long behind us, but his life's work and the historical developments that followed, have shaped the world as we know it today and it's clear that ancient traditions continue to live on. SL, CGTN.