The most beautiful and the most technological, buying a book in China can be an experience before you even start reading it. Especially if you buy it in Shenzhen, where everything is automated, or in Nanjing, where you are immersed in a layout of rare visual impact.
At Central Shenzhen Bookmall, in the province of Guangdong in southern China, come in, pick the books you like, pay, and leave. Just like everywhere else? Not exactly, because you don't need anyone here, let alone someone at the cash register. It is not only the largest book mall in the world, but since 2018, it has been the first experiment of its kind in China. Thanks to facial recognition and mobile payments, the experience is completely self-service. The store's artificial intelligence system allows customers to enter by scanning a QR code and makes it easy to navigate in the maze of shelves thanks to the Internet of Things-based technology that makes it easier to find the book you're looking for. Therefore, once the purchase choice has been made, payment is entrusted to apps such as WeChat by Tencent and Alibaba Alipay. Everything is automated, including warehouse management.
The more than 35 thousand square meters of exhibition attract ten million readers every year, for about 75 million euro of turnover. Bookmall has been declared a "National Civilized Unit" and was awarded several local honors.
The most beautiful bookstore in China is located in a parking lot (former bomb shelter) under the Wutaishan stadium in the city of Nanjing, China. Librairie Avant-Garde is not a simple transliteration of the Chinese name: the founder, Qian Xiaohua, actually gave it a French name, as he is deeply passionate about transalpine literature and heads a group of avant-garde writers.
Almost 4 thousand square meters and three hundred seats, the Librairie enjoys the proximity of Nanjing University, but it is not only famous for its literature: it has been a tourist destination for some time now, due to its unique and surprising architectural structure composed of ten silos side by side. Each of which in the project of Chief Architect of China Architecture Design & Research Group, Cui Kai, was dedicated to a different theme: the silo of art, picture books, travel and living, antique books, literature, humanities and social sciences, poetry, and the silo, yes, of the cash register.