Can live streaming help China’s bookstores survive the pandemic?

On a Monday evening about a month ago, the man who started “China’s most beautiful bookshop” did something he said he had never done before. Speaking in front of a chipped wall and framed black-and-white pictures of acclaimed poets like Bei Dao and Adonis, Qian Xiaohua joined four other independent bookstore owners in a bid to rescue their struggling businesses.

Their turnaround plan? A live-streamed bargain sale on Taobao -- the giant shopping site where rural farmers and urban influencers alike hawk anything from fresh fruits to Dior handbags. The online book sale was also given a boost by Viya, known as China’s “live-streaming sales queen” and who recently helped sell the right to name and launch a rocket for about US$5 million.

The move is an uncharacteristic attempt at mass appeal by the owner of Librairie Avant-Garde. It’s a two-decade-old indie bookstore in Nanjing, hidden underground with an obscure entrance that people might miss if passing by at night. Even as online bookstores and ebooks threaten to take away readers, some bookshops survived in China by hosting author talks and offering comfortable couches.

But this is an unusual time: The coronavirus pandemic that originated in China earlier this year forced physical shops to shut down or shorten their hours. Tens of millions of people hunkered down at home and stopped going out for work or social activities. In early February, more than 85 per cent of some 350 bookstores surveyed by an industry alliance said they were making almost no money. One shop in Beijing said it was only selling about 15 books a day.