Virginia Woolf said that if a woman wants to gain spiritual independence, she must first have her own room. Xinchao Bookstore extends this, she said: "A city needs a women's bookstore. ”
Xinchao Book House This article is a photo courtesy of the interviewee
This sentence is written on the bookshelf wall directly opposite the door of Xinchao Bookstore, quietly welcoming every reader who enters the bookstore. Located in the No. 8 Bridge Creative Park in Huangpu District, Xinchao Bookstore is the only women-themed bookstore in Shanghai. Since its establishment at the end of 2020, this pink-based bookstore has built an open, in-depth and diversified communication platform for women through women-friendly reading clubs, women's reading salons and sharing sessions for female authors.
On the eve of this year's "March 8" Women's Day, the surging news reporter walked into Xinchao Bookstore. On the top floor of this cozy three-story building, founder Wang Xia told reporters the story of Xinchao Book House since its establishment more than two years ago.
Founder Wang Xia
Focus on women's writing, with more than 90% of the titles written by women
Wang Xia, known as "Sister Xin" by everyone, has loved reading since she was a child. As a teenager, she spent almost all her pocket money on books, and often went to the library and rental store. As a "cross-border expert" who is keen to challenge herself, she first studied textiles, then entered a law firm by taking the law exam, and later switched to finance; Also from Kaifeng, Henan, all the way to Beijing, and then put down roots in Shanghai. In 2017, when her career and family were stable, she found that she had become estranged from the books she once loved after years of rushing, and planned to regain her dream of opening a bookstore.
Everything is difficult at the beginning, and Wang Xia, who has never been involved in the bookstore industry, chose to start from the reading community and held a reading salon every week. Over the years, she stumbled upon discovering that seventy or eighty percent of her reading community was women. So she followed the trend and decided to create a special bookstore from a women's perspective. This is the origin of Xinchao Bookhouse.
What kind of books should a women's bookstore have? This is the first problem Wang Xia faced after opening the store. To this end, she consulted a large number of materials, searched various women's book lists, and visited women's bookstores around the world. Due to the lack of publishing and writing background, Wang Xia was at a loss at first. "I didn't even know who Qiu Miaojin was at first, and they said how could you not know Qiu Miaojin if you opened a women's bookstore," she recalls. At that time, I did not dare to post a circle of friends or recommend books, because I had no confidence in my heart. Later, I studied desperately, looked desperately, expanded my knowledge, had time to visit other people's bookstores, checked information, discussed with the clerk, and accumulated books little by little, and in April and May 2021, I finally saved up to two or three thousand books. Speaking of this, Wang Xia looked around at the densely packed books and showed a satisfied smile.
The original Xinchao Bookstore, referring to the division of women's bookstores in Taiwan, accommodated all the books written by women, books written by women, and books related to women. "But what's the difference between that and a general bookstore?" Wang Xia thought. Therefore, after continuous thinking and practice, in 2022, she and her team made systematic adjustments to the bibliography, clarified the characteristics and focus of the bookstore, and raised the proportion of books by female authors to more than 90%.
Interior view of Xinchao Library
"Whether in literature, art, psychology, or society, the works of female authors are relatively few. I have looked at a lot of general bookstores, and the proportion of women's titles does not exceed 30% by eye. I think that since we have opened a women's bookstore, we should be more vocal for female creators, so I hope to make Xinchao Bookstore a bookstore that focuses on female creators. Wang Xia said, "We are the bridge between authors and readers, triggering women's emotions and experiences from a female perspective, so female readers are more likely to resonate, and our female readers account for more proportions." At the same time, we do not exclude the participation of male readers, and welcome them to explore the psychological differences between men and women and the gender culture of gender harmony. This is some of our thinking and adjustment in the area of gender. ”
Secondly, Wang Xia also reduced the bibliography of political, historical, social and other categories, and increased the life sector, such as perfume, clothing, pets and other parts that tend to be leisurely and healed at the spiritual level of women. As for the workplace part, Wang Xia believes that once women enter the workplace, their differences are relatively less and very difficult to divide; After all, women entering the workplace have only happened in recent decades, and it is also very changeable in the rapid development, and the research and results on women's workplaces are also on the way. So bookstores have made some cuts to the list of books in the category of women in the workplace.
Interior view of Xinchao Library
Interior view of Xinchao Library
Create a warm home for women so that they can be seen and accepted
In addition to the books themselves, Xinchao Bookstore also focuses on the relationship between people and books, and between people. Her earliest prototype was a reading community, and after establishing a physical bookstore, she also inherited this feature and gradually developed into a women's knowledge social platform. Nowadays, in Xinchao, a number of women-friendly reading clubs are held every month, selecting classic books, such as "Dream of Red Mansions" and Zhang Ailing's works, and inviting book lovers to read and discuss together; In addition, a women's salon will be held every week, with the theme of workplace socialization, self-awareness, artistic life, etc., for book lovers to learn and communicate; and a monthly sharing meeting for female writers, inviting female writers to share new books and creative experiences, so that female book lovers can meet more female writers. There are also writing salons, writing camps, and future publications focused on women's writing and reading.
The scene of the bookhouse event
There are not many bookstores that insist on running communities and holding offline events so frequently, and this business model is very cumbersome and trivial, and it is not cost-effective for bookstore operators. But Wang Xia persevered. When she came to Shanghai alone, for a long time, Wang Xia felt that in this bustling metropolis, she was just a speck of dispensable dust. Moving around, there is no sense of presence and value, and there are many challenges in my career. "Cities need communities like this, spaces like this, to provide some support for young people from outside the country, so that their loneliness can be reduced." Feeling her own experience, Wang Xia said. In the course of her business, she found that many locals from Shanghai came. "They say that we Shanghainese are the same, we have nothing to say at home, and we need to come out and communicate with people." The strong social needs aroused by this ubiquitous loneliness made Wang Xia decide to insist on running the community regardless of the momentary gains and losses.
Xinchao Bookstore's reading community has as many as 40,000 to 50,000 people, of which 80% are women. According to Wang Xia's observation, most of the book friends are women aged 30-50. She analyzed that a large number of women are worry-free, rich and leisure, and come to the bookstore out of pure hobbies, in order to cultivate their self-cultivation and pursue a better lifestyle, and they insist on coming to the bookstore for a long time.
There is also a group of women who participate in offline activities in bookstores for practical reasons, hoping that reading and socializing will bring them more career opportunities, such as developing customers and finding business partners. "We have insurance, wills, beauty, everything, and we welcome them. They must have come to me to study. If you want to do business, you can find other occasions to communicate by yourself. They got to know and recognize each other because of their reading, and some deals do happen often. I think it's also good that reading books can help my career. Wang Xia is very open to this.
As for the third type of book friends, Wang Xia observed that some women who are at the trough of their lives, who encounter changes and setbacks in their families and careers, and feel at a loss, will also come to bookstores to breathe. Some of them will take the initiative to say what they have experienced, hoping to reduce their pressure, solve their confusion, and connect with more people in the communication with book lovers to seek some new possibilities; There are also some people who don't say anything and just stay here quietly. They tend to appear frequently at a certain time, and when they get out of trouble, they disappear into the crowd. For such readers, Wang Xia believes that Xinchao Bookhouse provides them with a stage of refuge.
Unlike many bookstores, the staff of Xinchao Bookstore does not only communicate with customers at checkout, but also shush and warm up every customer. "We know most of the book lovers well, even a few members of the family, and we will provide escort services for guests who need it. I think the temperature of a bookstore is more important than the depth. Wang Xia said, "'Xinchao', which means warm home, we want to emphasize the warmth and beauty of women, and hope that women can warm and see each other, accept and tolerate each other, which is the value and proposition we want to advocate." ”
Xinchao Book House event site
Rooted offline, physical bookstores have a future
In this day and age, online literature is prevalent, and some online, fast-food-style reading methods seem to be more profitable. In contrast, opening a brick-and-mortar bookstore is more of a non-mainstream, anti-commercial option. Especially the impact of the epidemic in previous years has made the situation of the bookstore industry more difficult. In this regard, Wang Xia has a different opinion. "I think it's actually harder online than offline. Now that the online advantage products have taken a good place, it is difficult for me to spend very little money to make achievements online. Now our offline bookstore has invested millions into it, and this money may not be worth mentioning at all online, and may not be able to do anything at all. Many people don't understand why I do a brick-and-mortar bookstore, but I don't think the competition on the Internet is so easy. ”
Wang Xia also admitted the difficulties of running a bookstore in the past two years. "The performance in the first half of last year was yellow, and when we were at our best in the third and eighth quarters, and our potential energy was good, it stopped. I was very sad at the time. But Wang Xia was not immersed in depression, but through online links with book friends, she concentrated on the live broadcast of 100 reading clubs for 100 people. These 100 live broadcasts invited 100 female speakers and shared 100 books online. These heavy work allowed Wang Xia to survive this test, and also brought new opportunities for the future of the bookstore - through nearly two years of investigation and understanding, the Huangpu District Women's Federation not only successively handed over some projects to Xinchao Bookhouse, but also actively counseled and helped Xinchao Bookhouse to establish a women's federation organization. On October 28 last year, Xinchao Bookstore officially established the Women's Federation, and attracted more than 50 outstanding women to join the newly established Women's Federation organization, and will continue to expand in the future, so that more knowledgeable women can participate in the work of the Women's Federation and give full play to the power of women in the construction of a beautiful city.
Xinchao Book House is located in the No. 8 Bridge Creative Park of Jianguo Middle Road, and there are many good bookstores around. As a newcomer to the bookstore industry, Wang Xia admits that she was not confident at first. "At first, I didn't have enough expertise in women's issues, and when I first opened, I was very afraid that senior bookstore people would enter our bookstore, afraid that they would think our bookstore was not good enough. Thinking about it later, we may not be so gorgeous in decoration, nor professional and mature enough, but why can't we accept the way we are now and encourage ourselves to work hard to grow? Wang Xia said, "Over the past two years, I think we can talk to academic scholars or ordinary readers, and we are getting better little by little." Wang Xia said that she believes that as long as she keeps doing things with social value, like a seed silently taking root downward, one day it will break through the ground and be seen by more people.