Guangzhou Revisited – United Bookstore on Beijing Road

Travel time: July 2020.

Travel mode: Flight from Nanjing to Guangzhou, then self-drive.

Route: Nanhai Temple (visit time: 1.5 hours, admission: 15 yuan), Lingnan Impression (arrived 16:40, closed at 5pm, couldn't enter), Guangzhou University Town Science Museum (exterior view), food hunt on Beijing Road.

Accommodation: CityNote Xino Hotel (Guangzhou Beijing Road Dafosi Park Metro Station) 271 yuan/twin room.

Travel mode: walking, taxi.

Route: Lu Xun Memorial Hall (1.5 hours, online reservation required, free admission), Guangdong Museum (1.5 hours, online reservation required, free admission), United Bookstore.

Accommodation: Xino Hotel Beijing Road.

Travel mode: walking, metro.

Route: South Yue King Palace Museum (1.5 hours, free admission), Yuexiu Park (2 hours, online reservation required, free admission), Guangzhou Museum, food at Yuehai Tower.

Accommodation: Jinzhou International Hotel.

Travel mode: walking, taxi.

Route: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (medical staff free), Beijing Road, dining at Taotao Ju.

Accommodation: Huamao Hotel.

Travel mode: bus, taxi, metro, flight (Guangzhou – Nanjing).

Route: Shangxiajiu Pedestrian Street, Xiguan Dawu, Liwan Lake Park, meal at Xintai Le.

A few years ago I read an article introducing bookstores in Guangzhou. The article mentioned several distinctive bookstores, and I've always wanted to visit them when in Guangzhou, but often just passed through without making it. This time I finally had the chance. I looked for the nearest United Bookstore, just 500 meters away. After returning from the museum, I rested at the hotel and didn't head out until five or six when the sun was gentler.

Walking through the city's lanes and alleys, I could see the local street life.

Address: No. 314 Beijing Road, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou.

Following the navigation, I arrived at United Bookstore. I hadn't expected that today's bustling Beijing Road, a tourist shopping street, was once a street of bookstores in the late Qing and early Republic era. The 'Zhonghua Book Company' once stood on this very spot. The bookstore is housed in a traditional arcade building, a six-story structure. Looking in from outside, it's spacious and bright, with warm yellow lighting that feels cozy and serene.

Large glass windows and doors, together with the warm lighting, make it a world of light and shadow. The many small objects in the display windows give it a very artistic, hipster vibe.

The shopfront is not wide but deep. As soon as I entered, I was dazzled by the array of items. I've long accepted that bookstores are no longer what they were in my childhood. A well-run bookstore today is better called a 'literary and arts emporium.'

These colorful, dazzling little things on the ground floor would delight children, and they also filled me with joy, awakening my inner child…

Some items I couldn't guess their use at first glance, needing to read the name to get an idea. It made me marvel at the high level of design in today's products.

Every space, from floor to walls, was filled. They weren't all the same kind, yet together they created a harmonious, lovely scene that I found very appealing.

Various chic little potted plants pleased the eye and radiated a glow of life, lifting my spirits.

Perhaps they too harbor a longing for distant horizons!

That lazy contentment is something we busy folk truly envy.

After being bombarded by cute knick-knacks, I finally saw the main attraction – books. This area was for new and best-selling books.

I climbed the stairs to the second floor. The staircase used various styles to introduce the functions of each floor. From this, it's clear that today's bookstores have become creative lifestyle halls filled with the aroma of coffee.

The bookstore has created a composite space of cultural creativity, coffee, and aesthetics. Besides a wide variety of books, there are also novel and interesting handicrafts. They use all kinds of gimmicks to draw us into the store. The goal is to preserve a living space for physical books and prolong their life.

The second floor is utilized as much as possible for books. I love the well-arranged layout and warm lighting.

Books occupy their own little world in the most comfortable manner – on desks, shelves, windowsills, or even on a small chair.

While I was browsing United Bookstore, my child went alone to the Foreign Language Bookstore on Tianhe Road. But I found that this store also had quality reading materials from around the world. A quick search revealed that Guangdong United Bookstore is the first wholly owned mainland investment by Hong Kong United Publishing Group (one of Hong Kong's largest comprehensive publishing groups). No wonder there are so many original imported books.

There's a dedicated 'Hong Kong Book Fair' corner.

In addition to original books from Hong Kong and Taiwan, there is a considerable collection of English original books.

While the imported books here may not be 'everything under the sun,' they are still impressively extensive.

Humanities and literature, natural sciences, aesthetics, art, social sciences...

Famous paintings hanging on the walls enhance the artistic atmosphere.

United Bookstore's film corner – director experience zone. The decoration here uses the black and white of film.

On the third floor, the style shifts abruptly, a strong Japanese vibe that's impossible to ignore.

Japanese anime has captivated so many.

Besides anime books, there are also anime merchandise.

A fat cat named 'Wuhuang' and a cute dog named 'Bazhahei' are characters in Bai Cha's first picture book. These adorable picture books reminded me of the parent-child reading sessions I had with my child when I was a new mother. Reading aloud to a child feels like holding hands and sharing a happy time filled with warm language.

Photo collections of Japanese beauties.

An entire wall is devoted to Japanese literature, and they are original Japanese books.

One whole bookshelf is almost entirely occupied by Haruki Murakami.

United Bookstore in Guangzhou has created a 'Guangzhou Corner' here, blending local characteristics into reading culture. Various creative products with a strong Cantonese flavor are on display: a set of cartoon postcards, a hand-drawn map, a 3D arcade building model, or a small magnetic sticker of Manchu-style windows. Everywhere exudes the unique vibe of Guangzhou-style art. Through this 'Guangzhou Corner,' the bookstore expresses the colors and emotions of the city.

On the fourth floor, I was far removed from the bustling ground floor. There was hardly anyone, only breathing books. This is the children's world, with domestic and imported children's books. Through reading, children can spread their wings and soar – a kind of life journey in a sense.

There are also fine cultural creative items.

Jigsaw puzzles of famous paintings – I recall spending years of my youth killing time with them.

The cultural creative products here are mainly stationery.

There are also some whimsical, romantic knick-knacks.

These T-shirts are student-designed and hand-painted from Art Week.

A bookstore must have coffee, and this one is no exception. But the coffee here is given a 'high' status, with a separate café on the fifth floor. Books.Coffee – Wu Bai Sanatorium. The atmosphere here, compared to the ground floor, feels more like a bookstore: quiet and elegant.

The café has a very medical name – Wu Bai Sanatorium. It's thoughtful and meaningful.

I immersed myself in this pure white, highly Instagrammable bookstore café. The dominant white tone completely relaxed me. The noisy, tense rhythm is left behind on Beijing Road. The all-white palette and the uncluttered, spacious feeling transported me to another world. My pace slowed, my expression relaxed. All-white gives a pressure-free sensation, bringing more comfort.

These blooming plum blossoms added a touch of liveliness to the white space.

The black-framed industrial style brings a rough, simple power.

A poster on the wall introduced activities here.

From the poster, I learned that several events are held here every week. Based on original cultural exchange, sharing sessions of books, films, and art create a communication space full of life and modernity.

I walked up the all-white staircase. The black words on the stairs were like piano keys tapping at our hearts.

In this upper space, a white round table, white leisure chairs with black cushions – everything is simple. The character “槑” on the wall must be one of the symbols of Wu Bai Sanatorium, right? Just stay dumbstruck, one “fool” not enough, add another. Alone here, under the goose-yellow light, with soft music gently wafting in the ear, and the faint aroma of coffee in the air – you can read, but it's even better to daydream, to release all emotions, and just be a silly fool.

Pushing open the door, the outdoor terrace garden also has two 'fools.' If you like sitting outside or enjoying a quieter environment, this is for you.

This empty corridor is an art exhibition space, sharing the same subtle beauty as Wu Bai Sanatorium. Both emphasize 'blankness' in spatial design.

Here an art exhibition called 'Unread Letters' is being held. It's an exhibition of prints, illustrations, and book design by graduating students. It's an album of four years of university life.

This is a very 'complicated' bookstore. Complicated because I can hardly sum it up in one or two words. It's a composite store that mixes general merchandise, books, crafts, a café, and a studio. From the moment you enter, the ground floor's bustle, the second floor's flow, the third floor's return, the fourth floor's quietude, and finally this place's 'no white.' Being in such a bookstore, I felt the dreaminess of each floor having its own style. Today's bookstores are nothing like the ones we knew in childhood. Bookstores have become the embodiment of 'humanities, arts, and high-quality living.' All this is for the sake of physical books in the internet age. I bought two books, completely satisfied. I'm a reader of physical books – maybe I'm old-fashioned. I love the feeling of turning pages with my fingers.

As my leisurely browsing drew to a close, I unexpectedly came across another delight. United Bookstore has a straight up-and-down elevator in addition to the stairs. I took it from the fifth floor straight down to the first. As I passed the checkout counter, accidentally I spotted it – a mint-green vintage car, and so minty fresh, just like the mint-green car from the movie 'Green Book.' So I left with that green car and the two original books about trains and railways, overjoyed. Today was wonderful!