[Photo provided to China Daily]

British Council has launched Poetry on the Metro, a project that aims to help make the journey on underground trains more inspiring for daily commuters by showcasing 40 British and Chinese poems on metro trains in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and two other Chinese cities. People can already read some of the poems in Shanghai.

The project highlights classical, contemporary and international work, with the theme of youth, written by both famous and less-known poets from Britain and China, including William Shakespeare, Li Bai and Sarah Howe. The poems placed in the carriages will be bilingual.

Last August, a Shakespeare-themed train ran on Line 2 of the Shanghai Metro to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the playwright's death.