It is a bookstore and a living room in the city, where people escape from contracts, meetings and reports, gather here to talk about the age of innocence, or to talk about nothing, just to climb to a high place, take a few breaths of idealistic air, settle their confused souls...
This is the book bar owner Zhu Jinxiu's friend Qiu Shan after learning that the "age of innocence" book bar Yangliu County store is about to close, for this psalm, in the interview, Zhu Jinxiu's words are precious, very grateful.
"Maybe when the autumn wind is cold, people are more ruthless to make decisions." On the night before the winter in Hangzhou, it was also the night of the 99th day of the third year of the "Innocence Era" book bar Yangliu County store, and after repeated consultations, the young owner of the book bar, Sheng Xia, and his mother Zhu Jinxiu issued a notice of closure on the public account: it was decided to close the Yangliu County store on December 31, the last day of 2021.
Autumn is not all sad and parting, but also gentle reluctance and sincere respect. The message of the public account is extremely warm encouragement and hope, and the reading volume in 1 day is about to exceed 100,000, which makes Zhu Jinxiu moved, she did not expect that there will be so many strangers' attention, so many people have left an innocent place for the bookstore in their hearts.
Everyone's reluctance to the bookstore is actually the familiar and clean memory, and the "innocent era" is the sustenance of many Hangzhou people's feelings.
Bookstores give rushed urbanites the right to be quiet, and give steel-clad "green spaces" for the breath of the city.
As an important part of the city's public cultural space, how do physical bookstores survive in the Internet age and postmodern society? Zhu Jinxiu and Shengsha also raised doubts about whether the bookstore was "just needed".
Hangzhou's "Age of Innocence": "Like a constellation of stars in the sky, come to visit this confused city"
What is the picture of the "Age of Innocence"? Originally, Shengsha had planned in mind that the "Age of Innocence" would be the cultural center of the community and the surrounding areas, and the place where sharing activities would take place: it would not only entertain celebrities, but also welcome neighbors to dinner parties or barbecues. The stories of his dreams, as well as the exhibitions in the book bar, theatrical performances, concerts, talk shows...
"Our bookstore did not follow the traditional way at the beginning, but made a cultural and leisure space with a book as the theme, in addition to books, there are tea, coffee, wine, and meals. Books are our subject, but not the biggest revenue. Originally, we planned to give cultural lectures, and the design of the book bar was to have a stage. Zhu Jinxiu said.
This wasn't the golden age of brick-and-mortar bookstores, "the golden age of bookstores was definitely the '80s." In fact, I sometimes have a good instinct - when e-books come out, I think that bookstore books may be replaced by e-books. Zhu Jinxiu considered the decline of paper books, but never thought of leaving this career. The years are passing, and she is still innocent.
This cultural and leisure space is a lamp in the hearts of many Hangzhou people. A friend once took a picture of Gem Mountain and sent the photo to Zhu Jinxiu along with his heartfelt words:
"The neon at the foot of the mountain is lit and extinguished, and the lamp of the 'age of innocence' on the mountain has always been shining in the reader's heart." This passage resonated with many people at the time, and it is still the same today.
Therefore, Zhu Jinxiu decided to keep this lamp on for everyone. "So the logo of the Jewel Mountain Book Bar, the attic is a round window, I don't live there, but the window light has been on there, open all year round, just to let everyone have a warm attraction." 」
"There are lights on and no lights on, it's completely different." Not long ago, the "Ten Mile Spring Wind" Chinese restaurant opposite the Yangliu County store closed, and now a thin layer of ash has accumulated on the table at the door. The dimmed door is "a straw that crushes the camel", and the "age of innocence", the lamp in the hearts of Hangzhou readers, also faces the same fate.
This is something that readers in Hangzhou do not want to see. The Internet is full of encouragement and blessings, and many people have made a special trip to the book bar to express their love and support, "The day after the announcement was issued, it is the day when the book bar has been the most people since its opening. "The Willow County community has also come many times to support them to continue to light this light and discuss sustainable operations together. Bit by bit, it converges into another poetic meaning when frustrated.
In the chat, Zhu Jinxiu mentioned "children", which is the concern of her own happiness. "If I don't have this child, without my daughter-in-law, without this family, then I am a piece of pimping."
The "Age of Innocence" book, why not the younger daughter of Ms. Zhu Jinxiu and Mr. Sheng Zichao? She was born in the city of Hangzhou, and all readers witnessed her growth, and the road to growth was not smooth, but she was always the worry of happiness.
Falling in the clouds, the road ahead is long and repaired
The survival dilemma of urban bookstores
"I think the redder and hotter things tend to 'die' faster, the cycle is short, I like rustic, long, thin water flow." 」 In fact, under the stimulation of the fast-selling economy, Shengsha has not thought about using the "net red" punch card to attract traffic, but this is not a long-term solution, and it is not consistent with its own inner expectations.
Shengsha's original intention of opening the bookstore in Willow County was to create a community bookstore that was as warm as home, and it explored many ways, imagining that the rent could be recovered in three or five years.
But there are loopholes in the most critical issues of site selection, rent negotiations and renovations, and the impact of the epidemic has made the situation of bookstores worse.
"Opening a bookstore is not an impulsive thing, you can't be too confident" Shengsha's eyes are full of helplessness, giving up the Willow County store is also to save the Jewel Mountain store "As long as the government renews our contract, we will continue to operate."
It is not only the "age of innocence" that has been hit hard by the epidemic.
In February last year, the One-Way Street Bookstore had already issued an article entitled "Out of the Isolated Island, Defend the Bookstore| adhered to the 15-way call for crowdfunding to continue its life, and this year, the Net Red Bookstore "Yan Ji" closed several stores nationwide.
The "2020-2021 China Physical Bookstore Industry Report" surveyed 296 physical bookstores across the country, and the results showed that the sales revenue of 208 bookstores accounting for 72% of the year fell year-on-year, and half of the bookstores were not optimistic about the future development.
The impact of online shopping platforms, the rise in operating costs, the diversification of reading methods, and the diversity of leisure and entertainment methods have all made physical bookstores face great difficulties.
But in such a living environment, those who still insist on opening bookstores must have the fire of ideals in their hearts to illuminate the light of a party culture for the city.
"The bookstore is a continuation of our dreams, and goodbye is for a better goodbye." Shengsha admits that in this two years, there should be no more new stores, but the lights of the Jewel Mountain store will always be bright.
The bookstore is a space for the city to build dreams
We still need to release free souls here
When the bookstore became a reason for pedestrians to stop, the city was warm.
In the eyes of many residents in The Yangliu County community in Hangzhou, the "Age of Innocence" bookstore is undoubtedly the warmest existence in their hearts. Zhu Jinxiu was touched by a mother, "She is a resident here, she came early in the morning after seeing the news of our closure to recharge, 'Innocence Era' is the name of her heart from childhood to adulthood, she can't let go of the Closure of the Willow County store."
"John", a former store manager who had resigned a month ago, saw the news of the closure of the Yangliu County store, dispelled the idea of going home, and wanted to accompany the last days of the Yangliu County store in the 'Age of Innocence', she said: "I came to Hangzhou for three years, here are all my memories of Hangzhou, it contains my growth, emotions and love for a city."
In the hearts of every urban person, there is a unique bookstore, which places the freedom and joy that they yearn for, and it is this accumulation that will make a city glow with a unique humanistic temperament because of the bookstore.
The "bookstore +" model has entered more and more neighborhoods, and "+ coffee", "+ lectures", "+floral art" and other methods are all diversified integration of bookstore "cross-border", and they are also immersive experiences that meet the emotional needs of people at present in the run-in process.
The bookstore has become a "multi-dimensional scene" of urban culture "symbol" and living space.
In the eyes of the owner Shengsha, the closure of the "Innocence Era" book bar Willow County store is a business error attempt, he will sum up the experience of failure, in the future may cooperate with others to expand the development model of the bookstore.
Perhaps bookstores still have a long way to go to become diverse, functional, futuristic urban public spaces, but bookstores are the most important part of the ideal blueprint of the city, making the fragile and complex connections between cities and people transparent and stable.
Jane Jacobs, who has studied urban planning and communities all his life, warns the world that the primary goal of urban planning is urban vitality, promoting the formation of urban neighborhood grids, allowing children to grow up healthily, so that people can communicate freely, and this harmonious basic space, bookstores can become a bridge of communication.