Novel concept: China's spellbinding bookstores draw selfie snappers

Tianjin, China: Towering accordion steps and a fantastical spiral staircase greet visitors to a massive bookstore in northern China s Tianjin, where i...

Tianjin, China: Towering accordion steps and a fantastical spiral staircase greet visitors to a massive bookstore in northern China's Tianjin, where its striking interior is a bigger draw for selfie snappers than scholars.

Sales of hard-copy books across the country have failed to bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, data shows, despite authorities' efforts to boost domestic consumption and an e-commerce boom.

Yet in recent years the number of physical bookshops has "maintained steady growth", the head of a publishing industry group said last January.

"A wave of bookstores with unique characteristics" has emerged, Ai Limin said.

Tianjin's Zhongshuge, which opened in September 2024, on social media draws comparisons to Harry Potter's gothic Hogwarts.