Owspace bookstore is Beijing’s cultural hub

Film director Sheng Zhimin speaks during a cultural salon.[Photo provided to China Daily]

From the very beginning, the founders of the bookstore wanted it to be more than just a place to buy books.

"When we first rented the yard and named the arcade-shaped bookstore One-Way Street (the name was taken from the book by German philosopher Walter Benjamin), no one knew how long it would survive," Xu Zhiyuan, one of the main founders, writes in a memoir about the history of the bookstore.

"But in fact, our dream was realized. We created a space for dialogue with books, authors and people who share similar interests."

In August, the bookstore launched an artists-in-residence project, inviting writers and artists to hang out in the bookstore for about two weeks, during which they give seminars and meet readers.

"Some topics are hard to fully elaborate upon on in just one salon. Through this project, artists and writers can share more insight on their specialized topics," says Zhang Weina, the salon supervisor of Owspace. "And they also have more interaction with readers and fans during their stay in the bookstore."

Although the cultural salons helped the bookstore gain popularity, they did not bring in much revenue. The bookstore has always struggled with rising rents and the impact of e-commerce, which offers greater discounts than brick-and-mortar bookstores.

In 2009, the bookstore moved from Yuanmingyuan to the more centrally located Solana, a newly opened shopping mall, which offered the bookstore a three-year rent-free contract. When the contract ended, the bookstore had to move again to Changyang Joy City, which offered cheaper rent.