It's crowded, noisy and the smell of stir-fried meat lingers in the air - those were just some of the complaints from Hong Kong book lovers disappointed by their first look at the city's biggest bookshop.
Taiwanese chain Eslite has promised its trademark relaxed reading culture at its megastore in Hysan Place, which opened in Causeway Bay yesterday.
But the atmosphere was more reminiscent of the packed annual Book Fair in Wan Chai, as shoppers struggled even to stop in front of a shelf, let alone grab a book and settle down to have a good read.
By the evening, the crowds had got so big that the shop had to introduce a reservation system, with tickets being issued.
At 9pm, streams of people continued to approach Eslite, only to be turned away if they had no ticket. Some criticised a lack of information about the ticketing system lower down the mall.
At one point, some shoppers got angry when a man inside the store tried to let in two friends.
An Eslite spokeswoman said 800 tickets, with an allotted time printed on them, were given out at 5.30pm. They were snapped up within the hour.