600-year-old building turns into a 24-hour bookstore

The Wild Goose Wing Towers (Yanchi Lou), a famous landmark of old Beijing with nearly 600 years of history, opened a 24-hour bookstore on July 20.

The towers in Beijing's Xicheng district are line with Xicheng's ideas of protecting and utilizing historic cultural relics. In addition, they may increase reading awareness in the district for their advantages and influence.

The towers began renovation in June 2013 and rebuilding continued till 2014. This was part of Beijing's largest landmark historic rebuilding project since the establishment of the People's Republic of China.

The renovated towers now have a floor area of more than 1,100 square meters and the bookstore uses ten rooms, said Yu Huagang, general manager of the bookstore.

The bookstore, a branch of the China Bookstore, sells books on the first floor and has a book bar, an exhibition area, and salons on the second floor.

In addition to the first 24-hour bookstore to improve residents' cultural life, Xicheng district will also develop its libraries and increase public reading space by changing previous public places.

"A city needs real bookstores. Although electronic technology makes reading much easier, it can't replace the experience of turning pages," an official in the district said.

China Bookstore's 24-hour bookstore in Wild Goose Wing Towers (Yanchi Lou) opens to the public on July 20, in Beijing's Xicheng district. [Photo by Wang Zhuangfei]