This Chinese man’s bookstore only sells two books a fortnight – and he loves it
Li Jiawen’s shop stocks just 20 copies of two titles every two weeks, recommended by a guest, purely to spread the joy of reading
In an age of the rising popularity of e-books, Li Jiawen went against the tide to open a bricks-and-mortar bookstore that only sells two books every two weeks.
Opened last March, the Novel Hovel shop in Hangzhou in eastern China has been portrayed by Chinese media as a “bizarre business” for its minimalist philosophy and peculiar decor.
Hidden in a cafe also owned by Li, the shop puts fresh vegetables on its shelves alongside books as a reference to “spiritual food”. Some internet users in China drew parallels with the Morioka Bookstore, a Tokyo-based shop that opened in 2015 and gained fame for selling only one title a week.
Li, near 50, is an icon in his local literature and arts community.
Two years after relocating from the city of Guilin in Guangxi to Hangzhou in 1993, he opened the Commonplace Coffee & Bar, one of the first cafes in the city. At that time, drinking coffee was still considered part of a bourgeoisie lifestyle only available in hotels.
Over the next two decades, Li’s cafe has become a go-to place for art enthusiasts with numerous movie screenings and cultural events.