Paperback owls

Customers spend an evening reading books at 1200bookshop, the first round-the-clock bookstore in Guangzhou, that opened in July.

The bookstore Qi likes to visit is Sanlian Taofen Bookstore, an 18-year-old shop near the eastern corner of the National Arts Museum of China in downtown Beijing. Named after famous Chinese scholar Zou Taofen (1895-1944), the store is famous for having many complete collections of books on social sciences.

Earlier this year, the bookstore decided to open 24 hours to meet the needs of booklovers, especially with an eye on the World Reading Day (April 23), according to Zhang Zuozhen, the store's general manager.

"We hope to provide a cozy, friendly and free environment for booklovers, and welcome everyone who wants to read," Zhang says.

During the 10-day trial run, prior to the official kickoff on April 18, the bookstore had an average revenue of around 28,000 yuan ($4,520) per night, and daytime revenues shot up by about 55 percent. Even Premier Li Keqiang sent a message, calling the bookstore a "spiritual landmark" that will empower readers.

To date, the two-story bookstore has spent about 800,000 yuan on buying lamps, tables, chairs and sitting mats, as well as updating computers and air conditioning units. It also provides free Wi-Fi. At night, the store is packed with readers mostly in their 20s and 30s.

On its busiest night, there were about 900 people at the store. There are more than 300 customers on an average night, bringing in more than 20,000 yuan per night.

In the past four months, the bookstore made a revenue of more than 63,000 yuan a day, doubling its daily income last year.