The most beautiful April day in the world is a good time to read.
On the occasion of the 29th "World Book Day", the reporter went deep into a number of physical bookstores in Xi'an to explore the warm reading stories of Xi'an, and promote national reading to become a new trend of the times.
In today's world where online book buying is so convenient, why does a city need a physical bookstore? Perhaps because they are immersed in the city's rich humanistic atmosphere, and constantly add new core temperament to the city.
In recent years, Xi'an's physical bookstores have continued to integrate new business formats, creating more diversified consumption scenarios with the "bookstore+" model, accurately positioning user needs, and providing customers with a full sense of experience. These new physical bookstores bid farewell to the traditional single form of selling books, and open new windows with exploration, better defending shared reading on top of the physical space.
Zhenguan Bookstore
From Content Platform to Pathfinder for Urban Space
In the past 8 years, more than 3,000 original articles have been published on the "Zhenguan" official account, with nearly 600,000 fans. This year, "Zhenguan" has expanded from an Internet content platform to a physical bookstore.
"We hope to continue the persistence and concept of Zhenguan's online content to the offline, establish a person-to-person and face-to-face connection in a real field, and express the attitude of an urban cultural comprehensive space through this bookstore carrier. Lei Yu, co-founder of Zhenguan, said.
On April 18th, the reporter came to Zhenguan BOOKS, located on the 5th floor of Block D, Creative Valley, Qujiang New District, and the "The first good thing in the world is reading" posted on the glass wall in front of the door was particularly heartwarming. Formerly known as Xi'an Xiaoshuguan, Zhenguan took over the operation of this cultural venue and partially renovated it after the library closed for many years.
It is a complex bookstore integrating books, cultural and creative works, beverages and art exhibitions, with nearly 30,000 books, involving various fields such as literary and historical classics, natural and social sciences, and social philosophy, with both literary and academic characteristics. According to the staff in the store, the books in the store are only borrowed and not sold, and customers only need to spend 365 yuan to apply for a reading card, and they can enjoy free borrowing of all books within a year.
In addition to reading books and undertaking Zhenguan's own cultural salon activities, Lei Yu introduced that the bookstore also plays a role as a platform for more fans, editors, and writers to communicate and meet offline. Every day, the on-call editor will work in the in-store café, and fans can go to the editor to provide topics and chat together.
The reporter saw a special "blackboard newspaper" in the store, which recorded "Zhenguan Topic Selection of the Week" and "Duty Editor of the Week", and wrote "Young People in Group Inspection" and "Xi'an is in the allergy season again" and other five topics are open to readers to communicate together. Two young people were sitting at a table, writing down their thoughts on sticky notes, which were then attached to the sticky notes that had been thickly affixed to the wall.
In the three months since its opening, Zhenguan Books has continued to explore the infinite possibilities of physical space. The bookstore cooperated with calligraphy artist Jian Chun to jointly launch the calligraphy art exhibition "Fish and Bird Feathers", cooperated with the Vinyl Museum to jointly hold the "Listening to Vinyl in the Bookstore" activity, and joined hands with the Natural Body Theater to create a live performance of the modern dance workshop......
"It's a resilient urban cultural space, and we don't want to limit it. Lei Yu said that he hopes that Zhenguan Books will not only serve as a place for reading, but also as an exhibition hall, theater, reception room, art museum, etc., which can spread local cultural activities and cultural brands, explore more diverse daily forms, and extend a broader boundary.
Fangsuo Bookstore
A landmark "check-in place" that advocates "exquisite life"
In 2019, Fangsuo Bookstore was named "Global Bookstore of the Year" at the London Book Fair Global Excellence Awards, becoming the first bookstore and cultural and creative brand in Asia to receive this award. In 2020, the fifth Fangsuo store in the country landed in Xi'an, which once became a "check-in place" for reading lovers.
On April 20th, the reporter walked into the Fangsuo Bookstore located on the west side of G Park in the old town of Lianhu District, and the Harry Potter wizarding chess arranged at the door added to the sense of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry, like walking into a cultural city with a collection of more than 200,000 books through the historical corridor.
The most striking thing is the giant ring-shaped book tower in the center of the bookstore, which is 5 meters high and has a wall full of books on the outside. This book tower is the spiritual totem of the Fang Institute, with a great sense of ceremony, and is one of the most popular "Internet celebrity check-in points" among young people. The interior of the tower is hollow, and it is an independent space that can be used for events and exhibitions. On the same day, a special project for World Book Day was being held, and comic book author Lu Ran was invited to attend the on-site sharing meeting of the creator of "The Opposite People".
Wu Yue, a 27-year-old reader, told reporters that she also spent 80 yuan to sign up for the firm's "It's Against You - Lu Ran's Solo Exhibition Guide". Because there are only 20 places, she bought tickets for the exhibition a week in advance, including a copy of "The Opposite Man" around the exhibition, a themed drink, interactive materials and tools, and a guided tour of the whole event.
"Actually, I'm not a book lover, but I like to visit bookstores, and it makes me feel like I'm decompressed. Wu Yue said that every time she came to Fangsuo, she would "spend a lot of money", or buy exhibition experiences, or buy cultural and creative gifts, records, etc.
The reporter found that among the customers who came to Fangsuo Bookstore on weekends, one-third of the customers who read books were mainly parent-child families, and more customers were gathered in the commercial consumption space.
According to the staff of the Fang, in 2023, the Xi'an Fangji will hold a total of 57 activities and 6 exhibitions. In addition, 25 brands from different industries have been jointly operated, including cultural and creative, lifestyle aesthetics, buyers and food and beverages, to construct a joint venture space with "exquisite life" as the positioning, which is mainly for public leisure and has become the most popular regional space for customers.
Protopaper
Creating a "Dream Stage" for Community-based Artists
In the Internet era, independent bookstores and their supporters are a process of mutual selection, not only to select and sell books, but also to form an inclusive space for people, books and activities, creating more possibilities for dialogue, and becoming a hidden "cultural luxury" in the ancient city of Xi'an.
On April 19, the reporter dug up on social media to Protopaper, an independent bookstore that is highly hidden. With the cultural label of niche design aesthetics and irregular exhibitions, it occupies a place among the literary and artistic youth of Xi'an.
This shop is located on Daxue East Road, walking along the Hanguang Gate of the city wall to the outside of the city, about 500 meters to reach a narrow road, on both sides of the road are mostly family homes and independent buildings full of age.
Protopaper is the second community bookstore run by Protopaper, an independent creative agency, with themed books and exhibitions on the first floor and the design company's office on the second floor.
Zhang Xinmeng, the owner, talked about the original intention of making a community bookstore: opening a bookstore in the community can allow people to establish a daily connection with culture and art on their way to and from work.
In terms of book selection, Zhang Xinmeng will combine design work and search for independent publishing houses around the world with her own aesthetic vision, which are basically design, art, photography, humanities and lifestyle, hoping that the publications in the store can not only give customers aesthetic improvement, but also let them see the diversity of culture and different ways of thinking.
For independent bookstores, how to operate and break even after opening is indeed a matter that needs to be troubled.
In this regard, Zhang Xinmeng said with a smile: "From the beginning, we felt that it was impossible for the bookstore to make money, so we thought about the business model that could survive in advance, mainly with the design team to take over the business to make profits, and control the cost expenditure from all aspects to ensure the operation of the bookstore." We strive to make valuable publications from all over the world accessible to as many people as possible. ”
After 3 years of the epidemic, Protopaper is still standing. Zhang Xinmeng said that in order to support local artists, the first store has been "contributed" as a residency for contracted artists. "We will provide artists with a year's creative space and venue support there, and we will continue to explore the use of community cultural space to deliver more interesting artistic and cultural nourishment to Xi'an. ”
Northern Primer Bookstore
"Warm harbor" hidden in the city
Scan the code to enter the store, unattended, and read for no time...... Standing in the Gunpowder Bureau Lane of Lianhu District, Xi'an City, passing through an old street with strong smoke and fire, there is a curved bookstore with an all-glass curtain wall - the Northern Entry Bookstore. Although the store is only 4 square meters, it is a "warm harbor" for many book lovers.
Here, you only need to scan the code to get the "store entry password", and you can "swim in the sea of books" for no time. In a small space that can only accommodate two or three people, there is a warm lamp, a wooden bench, and more than 1,000 books are displayed on the bookshelf with a white frame and blue background.
According to Liu Ying, the manager of the Northern Entry Bookstore, the bookstore was founded in February 2022 and is the first 24-hour "unmanned bookstore" in Xi'an. Books are mainly humanities and social sciences, and the price is between 5 yuan and 15 yuan.
"Don't look at the bookstore is very small, but it has a complete range of books, a good reading environment, and you can enjoy real 'immersive reading'. Lin Shuang, who lives nearby, is a frequent visitor to the bookstore, and often comes to the bookstore alone after work to "read at night". For her, it is the happiest thing to hold a classic and read it slowly at night. "I was so busy during the day that I could only use the evening to recharge my batteries. Lin Shuang said that compared with home, it is quiet and comfortable, the reading experience is better, and you can often meet like-minded "book friends", and everyone exchanges and discusses together, adding a lot of fun to reading.
"The 24-hour 'unmanned bookstore' seems to be a beacon in the spiritual world of urban people, allowing people's hearts to inhabit. Liu Ying said that when the hustle and bustle of the day passes and the night comes, it will become a spiritual corner for countless book lovers to find themselves and relax their minds and minds, and relieve people's fatigue on weekdays.
"I didn't open this bookstore to make money, I just wanted people to read more books. Liu Ying said.
In order to attract more people to fall in love with reading, in terms of book selection, most of the books in the store are relatively readable and have no reading difficulty, so that readers can start from "entry-level" reading materials and gradually enter the world of books;
Approaching "World Book Day", large promotional posters are posted on the glass windows of the northern primer bookstore, with black letters on a green background, which is quite eye-catching. The bookstore will hold an exhibition with the theme of "The Life of a 90-Year-Old Man", which will attract more people to see and read by exhibiting old objects with a sense of history and updating old books from related eras.
"In the future, we will collaborate with different artists to promote extensive reading in the form of exhibitions, and further ignite readers' enthusiasm for reading through the concretization of the contents of the book, so that this bookstore can set aside an unclosed cultural space for the city and become a window to show the cityscape of Xi'an." Liu Ying said.
Intern reporter of Herald from all walks of life, Ma Youyi
Reporter Zhao Jing, Liu Fanjun, Zhang Lu