Bookish types and aspiring writers are spoilt rotten in Beijing.
While it would be hard to match Paris, there is a plethora of erudite cafe-cum-libraries in the capital to inspire and satisfy the writer and reader in us all.
The Bookworm is one such venue. Stuffed with books and greeting customers with the aroma of roasted coffee beans, the shop fuses mellow jazz polyrhythms with the tap of computer keys and the rustle of pages.
The clientele resemble a grazing herd with their heads down, looking up only occasionally to clarify a thought or take in a paragraph.
One wonders if sitting here is the author of the next bestseller on China - a writer on deadline for what is likely to be a bumper year in publishing: 2008, the Olympics and all that.
Though there's been a few ripping yarns in recent years on the 'emerging giant', the story of China's transition from communist behemoth to roaring capitalist tiger has hardly begun.