Back from the brink

In a speech delivered at the Jiangsu Bookfair in July, Qian said: "As the setting for Librairie Avant-Garde bookstores I chose the countryside, which is where China's cultural roots lie. So if you want to revitalize Chinese culture, the first thing you need to do is revitalize the countryside."

People in the country are the most in need of public cultural space to gain and share knowledge, he says.

"Unlike running bookshops in cities, running countryside bookshops should not be a money-making affair, which in itself is not feasible. Instead we should try to build a new cultural value system for them, with bookshops and other cultural programs. It's a long-term project that will benefit the countryside. Rather than simply chasing profits, we need to do things this way, and to do it with passion."