'No, I am not crazy.' A Shanghai bookseller celebrates women, defies naysayers
Readers enjoy the peace and calm of their surrounding as they peruse books at Xin Chao Books or SheLibrary, which its owner, Wang Xia, claims to be a women's bookstore rather than a feminist bookstore.
In an age when the printed page is widely considered a dead end, an independent bookstore specializing in the needs of women is opening in downtown Shanghai and drawing considerable curiosity.
“‘Who are your investors? Are you doing this to fulfill a dream? Is your rent really cheap?’ Many people ask me these questions,” former financier Wang Xia told Shanghai Daily. “Many of my friends simply think I have gone crazy.”
Wang calls her shop SheLibrary, or Xin Chao Books in Chinese.
“Nobody believes opening a bookstore is a viable business anymore, but I do,” she said. “I haven’t lost my mind; neither am I simply pursing a childhood dream.”
She did have a childhood dream of someday having her own cozy study for reading. Indeed, Xin Chao means “warm nest.”
Now in her late 40s, Wang was born in a remote town in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of northwestern China, with her closest neighbor living kilometers away. All she had for company were her sister and her books.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a private space for you, your books and your best pals?” she said, recalling her childhood dream.
Wang worked in the finance industry in Shanghai for nearly 20 years. She first considered opening a bookstore in 2017 but hesitated when friends suggested it was a losing proposition. For the past three years, she worked part-time with the Fan Deng Readers’ Club, operated by a company that set a goal of having its 3 million members read 50 books a year. Wang quit that job earlier this year.
Wang Xia
Her bookstore’s second floor hosts six private “cozy corners,” while the third floor has a special area reserved for Wang’s favorite book — the Chinese classic “A Dream of Red Mansions.” Different versions of the 18th-century novel are displayed, along with other books, journals and merchandise related to it.
Her other favorites — books written by the Bronte sisters, Eileen Chang and Yang Jiang — are on the first-floor shelves reserved for books by women writers. Other shelves include books about women and books for women.
“If I were just a dreamer, I would have opened a bookstore themed on ‘A Dream of Red Mansions,’” she said. “In fact, that was the original plan. But I am a realistic dreamer.”
Her “realistic” confidence comes from the rising demand of women for spiritual sustenance, from her part-time work experience with the readers’ club, and from the current success stories of other innovative bookstores.
JD.com, one of the country’s biggest e-commerce platforms, released a survey on women’s reading habits and trends last year through its JD Big Data Research Institute. It showed that women bought 7.6 books on average in 2018, more than men. It also showed that book sales from women grew more quickly than those of men between 2016 and 2018.
Top authors on the lists of Chinese women are children’s book writers like Yang Hongying and Cao Wenxuan, novelists like Edgar Snow, Keigo Higashino and Liu Cixin, and non-fiction authors like American hedge-fund manager Ray Dalio.
Two visitors to the SheLibrary have a quiet conversation as they read books and magazines.
In 2013, a women’s bookstore was reported to be in the works by a well-established chain in Shanghai, but it turned out to be a female-themed shop rather than one designed especially for women. A chain store executive told the media at the time that the shop needed a theme to help sales but didn’t want to narrow its focus to target customers.
That doesn’t mean China has no authentic women’s bookstores.
Lady Book Salon, which first opened in Beijing in 2007, now has eight branches across the nation. Unlike similar female-oriented bookstores in Europe and the US that highlight feminist themes and books, Lady Book Salon’s owner once told the media that such an idea doesn’t work well in China.
Wang takes the basic concept for SheLibrary and goes further.
“It’s a women’s bookstore, not a feminist bookstore,” she stressed. “Or, rather, I want to stay away from that theme, especially in Shanghai, where some may say women are really tough.”
Whether women are on the tough or weak side in the city is debatable, she said. But her focus is on less controversial and more pragmatic themes catering to women’s anxieties at different ages.
“When young, there are concerns and pressure about studies and getting married,” she told me. “Then, at an older age, it’s the balance between work and family. A young woman like you can’t yet imagine how difficult it is for women at critical points of their lives.”
She added, “I think we can turn to books and literature, or more broadly, culture, aesthetics and spiritual sustenance, to try to achieve inner peace and balance. It’s a pity that fewer people enjoy the pleasure of reading literature, and we can’t expect that trend to change any time soon. However, we can find other ways to enjoy literature and beauty in life through social events.”
SheLibrary has books ranging from art books to traditional dramatic works.
Her plan is to have daily events of all kinds — poetry readings, immersive theater, book clubs, handicraft workshops, health lectures and even dating events.
A recent event was a play reading of “84, Charing Cross Road,” adapted from Helene Hanff’s book of the same name that chronicles her 20 years of long-distance correspondence with the bookstore’s chief buyer. The book was turned into a stage play and a film.
“Do you remember the last real letter — not an e-mail or WeChat message — that you wrote and sent?” Wang asked about a dozen attendees at the event.
Activities will be the core of her business strategy — a membership system. An annual membership fee of 999 yuan (US$153) offers the privileges of attending events for free, booking private rooms and buying books at a discount.
“The store will make a profit, and only by making a profit can my store and the industry survive,” she explained.
SheLibrary (Xin Chao Books)
Address: Unit 5110, Bldg 5, 10 Jianguo Rd M.
Nostalgia and love of the arts help sell books
The new café sits on the first floor of a Spanish-style mansion built in 1932 on Anfu Road.
A film-themed bookstore has joined popular cafes and shops in one of Shanghai’s most popular areas.
Decades ago, the same area was home to the city’s film distribution company and to a cinema that screened foreign movies when few were available for local viewing.
Several art-themed bookstores have either opened recently or are set to open, including shops with stage themes near a theater and the drama academy, and one themed on music in the former French concession.
“The trend of specialized bookstores reflects a vivid cultural ecosystem in Shanghai and expanding demand for high-quality cultural life,” said Hua Jian, director of the cultural industry research center at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
The new Film Books Café sits on the first floor of a three-story mansion built in 1932 on Anfu Road. Visitors are welcomed by a doormat printed with the phrase “artist entrance,” and are then greeted by silent Chaplin movies projected on a wall.
Several tables and seats are surrounded by bookshelves with different focuses: books for film professionals, original novels of film adaptations, tomes on film history and books on filmmakers.
Books recommended by the Shanghai Film Critics Society sit on a special shelf for in-house reading only. Society members have donated rare film journals and signed film-related books and scripts to the shop.
“It reminds me of my first day at work for the distribution company in 1973,” Huang Yiqing, secretary-general of the society, said when the bookstore opened two weeks ago. “This is a place filled with my film memories.”
Visitors are welcomed by a doormat printed with the phrase “artist entrance,” and are then greeted by silent Chaplin movies projected on a wall.
On weekday afternoons, the handful of tables in the shop is usually filled with customers, according to the shop assistant. “Many young people came to take photos, and we already have people who return regularly to meet friends here or get film books,” the shop assistant said. “The customers are really of all ages and types.”
Some of them, like 23-year-old Huang Tian, stopped by the shop on her last day of annual holiday in Shanghai.
“I spotted a picture of the old projector in the shop on Weibo and decided I had to visit this place before I left Shanghai,” the Nanjing native said. “I don’t visit large bookshops anymore, but I’m always interested in small stores with an attitude, like a theme, or a distinct visual style or a special selection of books.”
The old film projector that attracted Huang’s attention is one of the most photogenic elements in the store. It sits at the end of the long row of window seats near the entrance.
The bookstore, like many others, won’t rely solely on sales of books or cafe earnings. Rather, it is devoted to nurturing a group of fans through regular events, such as film screenings and movie talks.
“Many art-themed bookstores come and go,” said Wang Yaohua, a veteran publisher, noting the number of specialized bookstores that once existed in 1980s Shanghai. “They quickly become popular, but what happens when the curiosity dries up? Back then, there was little to worry about, but nowadays, specialized bookstores simply can’t survive by selling books alone.”
Film Books Café
Address: 322 Anfu Rd
