Think of the ant, what comes to mind? It is a busy little creature. Always running back and forth gathering what it needs. Regardless of season, regardless of day, regardless of hour, ants are known for their seemingly non-stop industriousness. What about the ocean? While not an animal at all, the ocean seems to be “alive” at all hours of the day and night. Be it the tide coming in during the wee hours of the evening, or the endless waves crashing throughout the day. The ocean is vast and vigorous never resting. If forced to find the common bond between these two items, the ant and the ocean, well it just might be their “sleepless state”. Interestingly, put these two things together and something else comes to be, the name of the first “sleepless bookstore” in Tianjin, “The Ant and Ocean Bookstore”（蚂蚁和海洋书店 mǎyǐ hé hǎiyáng shūdiàn）. Like the ant and ocean themselves, this store never sleeps. It is currently opened from Friday at 10 am to Sunday at 10 pm. JIN had a chance to chat with the store owners. We thank them for sharing their story.

A comfortable enviornment like home.

Fast Friends Li DaoDao（李岛岛 lǐ dǎo dǎo）is from Cangzhou of Hebei. He graduated from Huazhong Normal University in Wuhan in 2012 majoring in Biology. Afterwards, taught biology for two years at a middle school in Zhuozhou. Following his resignation, on July 3, 2014 Daodao arrived in Tianjin, making it a full two years living here. After trying his hand for a few months at various different jobs, a former college classmate reminded him: “Didn’t you want to open a bookstore?” That dream became a reality when on December 27, 2014 he opened “The Ant and Ocean Bookstore” in Tianjin’s Chengji Central. The store was a mere 21 square meters. As to the store’s name, Daodao always liked a moving company in Wuhan called “Ant Movers” （蚂蚁搬家 mǎyǐ bānjiā）. Add to this a good friend named “Ocean”, so as a means to express favor for both the company and friend the name “The Ant and Ocean Bookstore” came to be.

It was in 2015 that a middle school teacher named Lu Mingguang （吕明光Lü míng guāng）happened to visit Daodao’s quaint little store. He was born in Yushu city in Jilin province（吉林榆树 jílín yúshù）. He is a middle school literature teacher, has published a book, manages a website, and also opened a small facility where children are taught about Chinese culture. The two hit it off immediately becoming fast friends. The rest as they say was history. In June 10, 2016 they decided to team up, expand, and move the store to a larger 3 story house in Hedong. The address in Chinese is: 河东区靖江路与红星路交口大通时尚花园别墅区21-6. The closest subway stop is Subway Line 2 顺驰桥站 (shùnchí qiáo zhàn). From there it is a 20 minute walk to the store. For those interested in arriving by bus, the nearest stop is: 制药厂站 (zhìyàochǎng zhàn). Last but not least, those driving by car can simply enter: 蚂蚁和海洋书店 into the GPS.

A young lady is reading till midnight.

Their dream location is a historical house in Heping district’s Wudadao area. For now though, this three story 160 square meter home gets the job done. For one it’s near Mingguang’s house, and Daodao is able to live on the third floor. Compared to the original 21 square meter shop, it is a major upgrade. The customer base is still growing. There was a great turnout on opening day thanks to good press. Daily traffic can range from just a few people to a dozen or more. Customer demographics reveal about half are locals while the other half come from all over the country. The neighbors are still getting to know them. Plus, A&O isn’t just a big-box bookstore looking to stock whatever sells best. About a third of the books in stock are based on customer demands, with the other two thirds being carefully chosen by the founders.

Why 24 Hours? Some may ask, why have the goal of being open 24 hours? Making the bookstore unique was a priority. It being opened 24-hours is just one way of doing so. However the goal is to be opened all the time for practical reasons, not just a marketing gimmick. For example, many people work nights, or simply enjoy being up at night. The owners want to give these people a place to go. They hope the store will become a place where people can pass the night if they are passing through Tianjin instead of going to a hotel. The ultimate goal is to be open 24 hours 7 days a week. For now though, outside of typical business hours of 10 am to 10 pm, over the weekend they open for a continuous 60 hours from Friday morning at 10:00 am until Sunday night at 10:00 pm. For safety reasons, overnight accommodations are only made available for members. They also hope to invite writers, producers and performers to the store for live discussions during the night.

Tips for Entrepreneurs The Daodao and Mingguang team have a few things to share with other entrepreneurs about starting a business. Daodao stresses not to overestimate one’s ability. Instead of trying to take on the world, start small and grow strong. He also believes that for a startup to be successful at least one person needs to work full time on the project. Mingguang see’s starting the bookstore as a stepping stone to his ultimate goal of being a writer. They stressed having received a lot of help from friends in opening the store. Simple things like giving flowers, watering the plants, and helping with setup made a huge difference. Neither of them was skilled at interior design. This presented some real challenges in terms of designing the space. Especially entrepreneurs thinking about opening a brick and mortar store need to think about how they will resolve issues related to space design. They like many other startups lacked sufficient capital to hire a professional team. One thing is for sure, “The Ant and Ocean Bookstore” is a critical piece in filling a gaping hole in terms of Tianjin “night life”. From public transportation to grocery stores after about 10 pm, Tianjin is a ghost town in compared to cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The idea of 24 hour facilities is very mature in other countries. In Japan there are 24 hour cafeterias. In the States everything from gas stations, gyms, pharmacies and Wal-Mart are open 24 hours a day. Tianjin has huge room for expanding its “night time” business. In the meantime, the next time one is unable to sleep perhaps it may be the perfect opportunity to check out the sleepless store known as “The Ant and Ocean Bookstore”.