Story ends as another Hong Kong indie bookshop closes amid ‘losses, red lines’
Have a Nice Stay is the latest independent bookstore to close in Hong Kong, joining growing list in recent years
An independent Hong Kong bookshop founded by journalists has announced that it will close on August 30, citing financial losses and “hard-to-grasp red lines”.
In a statement posted on social media on Tuesday, the bookstore Have a Nice Stay said its decision was driven by the broader social environment, financial strain, staff development considerations, and the mental and physical well-being of its team and their families.
The statement pointed to what it described as “hard-to-grasp red lines”, citing previous remarks by Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung, who had declined to specify which titles might be prohibited.
“Our capabilities are limited – we cannot possibly review all books and decide which books could be ‘problematic’,” it wrote. “Books are a space for knowledge and thought, and that space should be without limits.”
Founded in 2022 by five journalists who had lost their jobs, Have a Nice Stay operates from a fourth-floor tenement property in Prince Edward.
Beyond selling books and promoting journalism studies and reporting literature, it often functions as a venue for workshops and sessions with authors. A year after it opened, it also began publishing thematic reports.
The statement also cited unnamed “enthusiastic complainants” and anonymous letter-writers who it said had long targeted the shop.