Real bookstore more to offer than you think

(chinadaily.com.cn)

Updated: 2016-05-13

Liushen 24-hr bookstore, in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. [Photo/Baotou Daily]

With an increasing number of Chinese traditional bookstores fighting a losing battle with the rapidly encroaching e-reading facilities, the Liushen bookstore in Baotou, Inner Mongolia has not thrown in the towel yet and is even keeping its doors open 24-hours a day for the real booklovers out there and the owner explaining that he hopes the special store gets a good reception by a wider range of people.

Hu Junfeng goes on to explain this step by saying, "Some people say that life after 8pm determines a city's development level so I just wanted to offer people an alternative to KTV and bars in hopes that my efforts will turn more people towards reading."

So the bookstore sells 2,800 books, some of them bestsellers, the others are ones he thinks are worth recommending, which leads to another interesting fact about the store -- Hu only sells books that he's read, since it allows him to give those recommendations to customers and which also makes it different than the other stores.

Hu has managed to create a warm and pleasant, open reading space with comfortable chairs, music, flowers and beverages, and a red mailbox where any customer can write a letter to friends, family or even to their future self, making a visit to this particular store even more attractive.

Customer putting a letter in the mailbox at the bookstore. [Photo/Baotou Daily]

"One of the perks of reading is the possibility of coming across good books accidentally, but that can only happen in a real physical store, and whether a bookstore can survive depends on its books' attractiveness," the 29-year-old owner goes on to explain.

Whatsoever, this is not the first bookstore of this kind opened in Baotou, as other cities are also experimenting with new model for running a physical bookstore, with a focus on a 24-hour bookstore's market potential.

"Each city needs a real bookstore, and even though electronic technology makes reading much easier, it cannot completely replace the experience of holding a hard copy in your hands," says an industry insider, adding, "The only thing is that the bookstores need to start integrating book sales with leisure, recreation, education and business to get a greater attention of people".

"It's turning cool tonight, so don't forget to add some clothes to keep warm and we're brewing up some tea to keep it waiting for you," Hu concludes by describing an invitation they send out to booklovers via WeChat on Friday afternoons.