THERE are 48,000 characters in the Chinese dictionary and now more of them can be found at Swindon's main library.

The Chinese community in the town may be small but it is close-knit.

And, in response to requests, Swindon Central Library has just taken delivery of a new batch of Chinese books.

The 100 books will offer a greater choice to readers.

Among them are translations of JRR Tolkien's classic Lord Of The Rings and popular legal thriller The Client, by John Grisham.

There are also novels by Chinese authors and books on Chinese medicine and cookery.

Librarian John Wignall, who is responsible for the collection, said: "We are pleased to provide these books for readers of Chinese."

The weekly Chinese news-paper, the Epoch Times, is also available in the library.

Chinese does not have an alphabet, but characters representing words, formed from stokes symbolising syllables.

A good Chinese vocabulary contains about 4,000 characters, the average number needed to read a newspaper.

The spoken language is more complicated than the written.

Many words are the same for different things in Chinese but alter depending on how they are said. The word "mai" can mean "buy" or "sell" depending on intonation.

Library member Andrew Leung, of Peatmoor, is pleased that more Chinese books have been made available.

He said: "It can sometimes be difficult to get Chinese books in this country. I would like to read more fiction."

Mr Leung is a member of the Chinese Christian Fellowship at Freshbrook Evangelical Church, which has about 50 members.

Mr Leung said: "The Chinese community in Swindon is not very big, so we are very closely knit and know each other very well."

The fellowship takes elderly Chinese people to hospital when they are ill and interprets for them.

They teach the children at the Sunday school in Chinese, where they learn about and celebrate Chinese festivals, such as Chinese New Year, which falls on January 22, and the Mid Autumn festival.

Mr Leung said: "These remind the young about their roots and culture."

Chinese customs

This year is the Chinese year of the monkey. The monkey symbolises luck, so this is the year to risk everything for success

The phrase "Have you eaten?" is used as a familiar greeting in China since food is so important in Chinese culture

Wearing a moustache is considered bad luck to the Chinese. Having a beard is a sign of low status, as it is considered that the wearer has not had time to shave

Chinese custom forbids people to clip their nails at night, as it is believed to invite a visitation from the dead

To Chinese, red symbolises good luck, wealth and happiness.