Hans Christian Andersen might have been surprised to learn that, more than a century and a half after they were turn out in his native Denish, his fairy tales would still be popular in China.

"Andersen's Fairy Tales" was listed as one of the top 10 classic books in a selection campaign in Shanghai sponsored by the local Communist Youth League and media, along with Victor Hugo's " Notre Dame de Paris," the Soviet satire "How Steel Was Tempered" and the Chinese classic "Journey to the West."

The sale of Andersen's stories increased approximately 30 percent in 2004 and accounted for 10 percent of the fairy tale books in a special book store for children in Guangzhou.

"The ugly duckling and the little mermaid are still the favorites of modern children," a salesperson said.

Andersen's fairy tales were brought to China at the beginning of the 20th century, and nearly 200 Chinese versions have been published.

A pupil in Beijing, Li Muhan, said most of her classmates have at least one Andersen book. "I learned the stories at the age of four from my mother. I've read some many times, but I still want to reread them, because they are great."

Li's classmates, Guo Chao and Song Rui began to argue at the look of the author.

Guo Chao said he was a tall and old man with glasses, a thick beard and blond hair. But Song Rui argued that Andersen's hair had been white, "because he would had been very tired after he wrote so many tales."

In China, Andersen's tales are not just for children, as readers reevaluate their implications as they grow up. A student in Shanghai Jinyuan High School, Qian Jianan, said she wanted to weep after reading the English version of "The Little Mermaid."

"It's not just a love story like what I thought after reading it in my childhood. It's a protest to the envy and hatred of beauty and kindness. It tells people that the world is not so beautiful as they thought!" Quian wrote in a a composition.

Born on April 2, 1805, Hans Christian Andersen wrote more than 160 fairy tales throughout his life.

But some parents have expressed concerns about the adverse influence on their children of Andersen's criticism of the reality of the world.

A mother said her daughter had picked up a sentence "A bad brother killed his sister's boyfriend" after the then-one-year-old girl heard an Andersen story and asked her mother to copy an illustration in the book of a bloody knife.

"I don't know if I should protect my daughter from the ruthless world by keeping her away from Andersen's work, or expose her to it as soon as possible to make her used to it," the mother said.

A renowned Chinese translator of Andersen's tales, Ren Rongrong, said the tales are for a person's entire life.

"Some tales are especially for children, but most convey the particular outlook and opinion of the writer," she said. "People may understand the implications as they grow up while they just feel interested in their childhood.

"'The Little Mermaid,' for example, is more suitable for adults, " she said.