The bookstore is the spiritual breadbasket of many people, but also a city's sentiment. LOOK recommends 6 treasure bookstores, come here to spend a romantic weekend!
Good-Looking Bookstores
1.PAGEONE - A 24h bookstore facing the Forbidden City
PAGEONE is a 24-hour bookstore founded in Singapore and currently has 6 branches in China. Three of them are in Beijing, the Qianmen store, the Sanlitun store and the Yitigang store, and this time we recommend the Qianmen store. In Qianmen Street, where there are many tourists, PAGEONE is a place where you can quietly savor and enjoy the scenery of the Forbidden City while reading a book.
The bookstore has three floors, and as soon as you enter, you can see a giant wall of books that runs through all three floors. The three floors display books on reading, function and art. Large floor-to-ceiling windows provide comfortable lighting on each floor.
Specially, PAGEONE is a 24-hour bookstore where you can have a date with books day or night.
PS: After 10 pm, only the first-floor book area is open, the rest of the floor is closed.
PAGEONE (Beijing Fun Store)
Address: 1-3F, Building 1, No.13, Langfang Toutiao, Xicheng District
Hours: Monday to Sunday 00:00-24:00
2. Spring Breeze - INS - style Magazine Library
Located in the hutongs along the second ring road in Beijing, Spring Breeze is the first magazine library in China. It is near the river and bathed in the breeze, making it feel like a "paradise".
The cottage was converted from an old house. It is decorated in a simple Japanese style, with original wooden tables, chairs and bookshelves. The bright floor-to-ceiling windows allow readers to enjoy the scenery while reading books.
The healing space of more than 80㎡ has more than 400 domestic and foreign magazines and many lovely independent publications covering design, design aesthetics, architecture, photography and so on. Each book is also carefully wrapped in a book jacket, which makes people feel warm.
Spring Breeze has three stores in Beijing, and this one in Qianmen is rather special, featuring a membership system. The single fee is 50 RMB, and the annual card is 399 RMB, so it's a good deal for those who live close to here.
Spring Breeze (Qianmen Store)
Address: 1F, Building 3, No. 19, Changxiang Wutiao, Dongcheng District, Beijing
Hours: Tuesday to Sunday 12:00-20:00
3. Zhengyang Bookstore - the best bookstore with old Beijing characteristics
Opened 10 years ago, Zhengyang Bookstore is located in the courtyard of the Wan Song Old Man Pagoda, a national cultural relic protection unit, which is the only bookstore in Beijing that only deals with books related to old Beijing.
The bookstore is located in a courtyard filled with wisteria, grapes and pomegranates. From time to time, there are Beijingers with a Beijing accent who come here for a stroll.
The bookstore is full of novels, weird stories, picture books and ancient books about Beijing. There are also many private collections of the owner, which are out-of-print books that are only available for reading and not for sale. If you come here, you will definitely have a deeper understanding of Beijing. There is also a small teahouse in the courtyard, so why not sit down and have a cup of tea and jerk off a cat?
Zhengyang Bookstore
Address: No. 43, Xisi South Street, Xicheng District, Beijing
Hours: Monday to Sunday 09:00-21:00
4. Model Bookstore - a bookstore converted from a century-old church
This is the fourth store of Model Bookstore in Beijing, which was formerly a century-old Christian church. It has undergone the change of times and the remodelling of its functions, and it has a sense of historical vicissitudes.
Instead of popular bestsellers and novels, the store displays mostly books related to art and painting, as well as some antique books with a long history.
The staircase on both sides divides the church space into two floors, the first floor is a book collection and reading area, plus an open cafe. The second floor is a reservation-based creative space, which is occasionally used for exhibitions and hands-on classes.
The Gothic-like façade windows and doors also make this space great for taking photos.
Model Bookstore - Poetry Space
Address: No. 85 Tonglinge Road, Xicheng District
Hours: Monday to Sunday 10:00-19:30
5. Zhong Shu Ge - Harry Potter Magic Style Bookstore
Originated in Shanghai, the popular bookstore "Zhong Shu Ge" has 17 branches in Yangzhou, Wuxi, Suzhou, Chengdu, Xi'an and other cities, and the one in Beijing is its NO. 18.
With its slightly surreal and orderly design, it has won several international design awards and was named "China's Most Beautiful Bookstore" by the China Book and Magazine Industry Association.
The books are mainly high-quality books from well-known publishers. There are nearly 60,000 books in an area of 660 m².
The two-story-high curved bookshelf extends from the floor to the roof, and the mirror doubles the visual depth of the space, giving people the feeling of travelling to the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
Zhong Shu Ge
Address: B2, Building B, Raycom Infotech Park Tower, No.2 South Street, Science Park
Hours: Monday to Sunday 10:00-21:00
6. Kubrick Bookstore - A movie-themed green bookstore
Kubrick Bookstore is named after one of the most influential American directors, Stanley Kubrick. It was originally opened next to the Broadway Film Center in Hong Kong, offering some movie magazines, posters, postcards and so on.
In 2010, Kubrick Bookstore came to Beijing, adjacent to the Hong Kong Film and Television Base. The Beijing store is also a bookstore and cafe pairing, with green as the main color and shelves made up of stacked green squares.
Since it is a film-themed bookstore, the shelves are filled with magazines of film, photography, painting, art and other genres, as well as some small Kubrick peripherals. In addition, there are literary works by excellent writers from all over the world to read.
This is a literary bookstore with a, particularly good atmosphere. It is recommended to pick a book of your choice and dive into the green compartment for a slow read.
Kubrick Bookstore
Address: Inside Contemporary MOMA North, No. 1 Xiangheyuan Road, Dongzhimen
Hours: Monday to Sunday 11:00-22:00
Translated by LIU Yu
Edited by WANG Jingyan
