Hotspots for foreign booklovers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Nanjing

Beijing

The Bookworm

A bookshop, library, bar, restaurant and events space all rolled into one in the bustling Sanlitun area, The Bookworm Beijing was selected by Lonely Planet as one of the world's 10 greatest bookshops for its Best in Travel list 2011.

There are 16,112 titles on offer, most of which are in English, and almost daily activities that range from writers' workshops to improvised talk shows. The whisky bar and monthly wine club have also drawn rave reviews.

Those who pay to become members of The Bookworm have access to a lending library and discounts on tickets to events.

The Bookworm also has branches in Chengdu and Suzhou.

Beijing: Building 4, Nan Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang district. 010-6586-9507.

Chengdu: 2-7 Yujie East Road, 28 Renmin South Road, Wuhou district. 028-8552-0177.

Suzhou: 77 Gunxiufang, Shiquan Street. 0512-6526-4720.

Keep updated with events on www.chinabookworm.com

Page One

The book retailer, publisher and distributor originally from Singapore has three venues in the center of Beijing, which offers a wide range of both English and Chinese titles as well as readings, performances and workshops. Its Sanlitun branch stays open until midnight from Friday to Sunday.

Branch 1: Shop LG50, INDIGO, 18 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang district. 010-8426-0408

Branch 2: Units S2-14a-b, 1-2/F, Sanlitun Taikoo Li, 19 Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang district. 010-6417-6626.

Branch 3: Shop 3B201, Zone 3, China World Mall, 1 Jianguomenwai Avenue, Chaoyang district. 010-8535-1055.

Shanghai

Garden Books

This is Shanghai's longest-running private foreign language bookstore which boasts a fine selection of literary titles, "all from the top publishers in the world", according to the founder and manager. Most of the books here are hardcover so have a long shelf life.

Besides the main store in the heart of the former French Concession, Garden Books has a branch in the Shanghai Center, which is smaller and sells mostly travel books and coffee-table books about the city and elsewhere in China.

Main: 325 Changle Road, Huangpu district. 021-5404-8728.

Branch: Rm 116, 1376 Nanjing Road West, Jing'an district.

Shanghai Foreign Languages Bookstore

Established in 1950, the shop is now Shanghai's only State-owned store selling foreign-language books.

Besides the usual travel books, dictionaries and the like, the shop has an especially strong Japanese section, where the latest manga publications can be found. You can occasionally find books that are out of print in Japan, and sometimes books are sold at discount prices.

390 Fuzhou Road, Huangpu district. 021-2320-4981.

Guangzhou

Fang Suo Commune

The floor-to-ceiling shelves on the wall behind the cashier desks are loaded with English books. Located in TaiKoo Hui, a shopping mall known as the city's center for luxury brands, the bookstore provides a luxury reading and shopping experience. Also on offer are delicate handicrafts and stationery in a 500-sq-km showplace, where 30 brands were first introduced to China.

Lectures by writers, musicians, artists and scholars from around the world are held at least once a week. It will open a branch in Chengdu this year.

MU35, TaiKoo Hui Shopping Mall, 383 Tianhe Road, Tianhe district. 020-3868-2327.

Keep updated with events on http://site.douban.com/122554/

New Page

Opened in 2005, the foreign-language section of the Guangzhou Book Center provides readers with imported original editions. The staff will also take requests for books and help find them for you. The bookstore keeps track of the latest bestsellers overseas, such as the fictional House of Cards on which the popular American TV series of the same title is based, and stocks them for readers.

4/F, Guangzhou Book Center, 123 Tianhe Road, Tianhe district.

Nanjing

Librairie Avant-Garde

This is a must-go place for travelers in Nanjing for its inspiring interior design and is a literary home for booklovers, especially those interested in social sciences.

It has three locations in the city and a branch in Wuxi, another city in Jiangsu province. The flagship near Wutaishan Stadium is claimed to be the country's largest single-floor bookstore, at 4,000 sq m. A long corridor lined with books is illuminated by a glittering cross at the end, portraits hang of the world's most accomplished artists, such as Picasso and Van Gogh, and each column is carved with famous verses.

There is a secondhand section, with books from as early as the 1940s, many of which are now out of print. Regular customers offer the majority of these old collections.

Flagship: 173 Guangzhou Road, Gulou district, Nanjing. 025-8371-1455.

Branch 1: 99 Caochangmen Street, Gulou district, Nanjing.

Branch 2: 292 Changjiang Road, inside Nanjing Presidential Residence, Xuanwu district.

Branch 3: 9 and 34 Xiuzhang Street, inside Huishan Old Town, Beitang district, Wuxi. 0510-8370-2691.

Keep updated with events on http://site.douban.com/bookshop/

(China Daily 05/31/2014 page7)