htmlOn July 27, a warm "regulation" in Douban Bookstore. Douban Bookstore store manager Qingsong.
htmlOn July 27, the small bookstore managed by Douban Bookstore Manager Qing Song and his wife Deng Yuhong attracted a considerable number of readers. The owner has a unique vision for book selection and his bookstore is well-known; under the impact of the Internet, he insists on not selling teaching aids and not selling coffee with the flow of money
This is No. 262, Chengfu Road, Haidian District, Beijing.
Douban Bookstore has been in business for 14 years, with 62 square meters and 20,000 books. It opens at 9 a.m. every day and closes at 9 a.m. It has been listed as the most worth visiting bookstore in Beijing many times online.
officially opened in 2006. So far, this inconspicuous bookstore has attracted readers with similar interests with taste. After going through bumps and twists and turns, the bookstore is still struggling to survive.
The external environment changes suddenly, but the time in the store seems to be still. Store manager Qingsong and his wife Deng Yuhong witnessed the changes in their lives in the bookstore.
Qingsong thinks he has social fear and is not good at chatting outside, so the bookstore gives him protection.
In Qing Song's eyes, the bookstore is a slightly beyond material existence, giving him education and belief, filling his spiritual "vacancies". He feels that he does not resist the rules, but just does not want to become mainstream, and sticking to it is just a "personal lifestyle."
Bookstore's source is the Douban Bookstore in stock in various publishers on the morning of July 27. The light outside came in through the large window, with green plants next to the window, and exquisite small paintings placed next to the new book display stand. Music flowed in the air, with a few customers, and the atmosphere was quiet.
Bookstore is not big. The books in the cramped space occupy the vast majority, and only two people can pass through the aisle between the bookshelf. The bookshelf meticulously lists various books such as literature, history, politics, law, and art.
You will find that there are many details of the story in the store. The recent recommendation listed on the small blackboard is "The Fall of Lies" by Wilde . The handwritten poems decorate the bookshelf, there is a bookshelves named "Right Protector", and a sticker says "All books with plastic seals can be detached, it's okay to disassemble them and not buy them."
These details are just like many stories accumulated by the bookstore. Some of them have become "memories". They are talked about by people and have attracted curiosity for those who have not done their homework. The clerk has to explain repeatedly, for example, the name of the bookstore has nothing to do with Douban.com, and the reason for opening a bookstore is just because he likes reading...
Time is turned back to 2003. Qing Song wanted to take the postgraduate entrance examination and rented a house near Peking University. At the same time, he worked at Fengrusong Bookstore to make a living, and met Deng Yuhong in the bookstore. After resigning from the bookstore, the former bookstore manager Lu Dejin transferred his street stall at the Peking University weekend book market to him and Deng Yuhong. They started selling books from then on. The bookstore opened in 2006. The source of
bookstores is the inventory and refunded books from various publishers, most of which are only sold for 50% off. But choosing to sell inventory books at the beginning was just a "coincidence".
Qing Song said that at that time, there were actually few bookstores selling inventory books. "When it comes to discounts and ten yuan stores, people think of garbage books and pirated books." They were bookstores that were discriminated against, but when they took over the street stall, Lu Dejin handed him inventory books, and he also liked them very much, so he wanted to continue doing it as much as possible.
has another reason to choose to sell inventory books because it has no money. At that time, the initial funds were only 10,000 or 20,000 yuan. Qingsong still remembers that when he went to pick up goods, most people used cars to pull them. In order to save money, he took the bus. Once, I got off at the East Gate Station of Peking University. Because there were too many people on the bus and the driver didn't pay attention, Qingsong put some of the books on the platform. When he returned to the bus, the driver closed the door. He drove to the next stop at Tsinghua West Gate Station and got off. He ran back with the remaining 25 kilograms of books, "What should I do if I am afraid I will lose the books? I am so poor." As a result, when I saw the book was still there.
The embarrassing Qingsong felt like a boss in the book wholesale market. In a large warehouse of thousands of square meters, it would be great to pick it by himself when he brought enough funds. At that time, there were 1,700 copies of "Chu Anping and "Observation", which was equivalent to spending 5,000 yuan, but it was considered a very cheap discount.
At the end of July 2019, when Qingsong was interviewed by a reporter from the Beijing News, he raised three fingers and recalled that he thought for 3 seconds at that time, saying, "Package them all, pack them immediately, and pay immediately."
Behind the Douban Bookstore is a small warehouse, 15 square meters, no windows, lights on, and there is a desk. Qingsong works here, and there is a backlog of books in the small warehouse, piled up on the roof. There are a lot of books in the
warehouse, many of which are old books that have not been reprinted. Qingsong likes thousands of books at a time, and some books have not been sold for 12 years. For example, the Latin American Literature Series has not been sold out yet. Qingsong pulled a truck back in 2007: "It represents the highest level of Latin American literature, and it is all translated by old translators." Of course, there is also a backlog of "very bad books". It doesn’t matter to Qingsong the former, but the latter makes him “very uncomfortable”.
In 2009, Qingsong once went to Jiangsu to pick books. The house and shelves were full of books from ancient books from Shanghai. He sent messages to readers. On that day, everyone came to the store and they were squatting to choose books. In summer, the air in the house was not good. If you unpack it, he would pass it on. When you saw the book you chose, he shouted and saw if anyone wanted it. Someone screamed and said why the book I chose was gone, and I was very excited.
's operating conditions are now just "sustaining survival"
When it first opened in 2006, Douban Bookstore had a good operation and opened branches near 3 universities outside Peking University , but the losses were serious, leaving only Wuhan University branch to survive, which eventually closed in 2018.
bookstore has a small scale, and its operating income basically depends on selling discounted inventory books. Rent, water, electricity, and labor are all expenses.
and selling books in stock has its own special features. Deng Yuhong once said in an interview that bookstores buy books that publishers want to process, which means that these books are not easy to sell, or the market is saturated, and may never be printed again: "We only have one chance to want it. If we don't want it, or if we don't want so many, this book may disappear in this market, but we have the opportunity to keep it." Every purchase of
is like a gambling, and I don't know how many bets to bet, so they will never have money. Should I give all this book to my heart? Because the bookstore must maintain normal operation. As store managers, Qing Song and Deng Yuhong often have this kind of conflict. The operating losses in 2007 were due to the small customer base at that time, so the book was constantly updated, but they frequently failed.
The situation improved in 2008. Qingsong even paid off the 400,000 yuan owed by the two branches to close, and even made up a down payment.
But the business of bookstores is not expected to stop the impact of the Internet, and 2010 is a turning point. Previously, the daily turnover was about 3,000 to 4,000 yuan, but now it is one or two thousand yuan.
Now when talking about business conditions, Qingsong only said that he could "sustain survival." The bookstore has opened online channels to sell books, and Qingsong also designed some bookstore derivative products to maintain balance of income and expenditure, but the business that has nothing to do with books is not done. From the beginning, I insisted on not selling teaching aids, to not selling coffee and gifts in bookstores with the crowd.
Deng Yuhong once explained the reason in his diary: Bookstores must have the responsibility of bookstores. Bookstores must also have the dignity of bookstores. I will never call bookstores that only treat books as decorations.
Qingsong has never been to a chain bookstore that opens stores in multiple cities. However, he felt that the existence of chain bookstores and online bookstores is reasonable, but small bookstores like Douban Bookstore should also exist like wild grass: "There are small things and big things, which are called uneven."
readers have many famous professors, media people, singers, painters, and books in Douban Bookstore, mainly humanities and social sciences.
Qingsong has his own method of choosing books. Because of his unique vision of book selection, Douban Bookstore has a reputation for good books and has attracted a considerable number of readers. Netizens recalled that when he was a clerk in the store, the new book on the weekly day of the new book being put on the shelves often attracts old customers to watch and grab books. The books that customers are optimistic about will be entered and bought first.
In 2017, Douban Bookstore almost moved due to a notice of breaking holes in the wall. But because of this ups and downs, many talents discovered for the first time that there were many famous professors, media people, singers and painters who visited the bookstores before. The connection between readers and Douban Bookstore is amazing.
There are many people who come to read and buy books, and Qingsong has seen many "strange" people. Some people are sure to buy this book, but no one can touch it. They also wear gloves to take the book away. Some people are addicted to buying books. There is a clerk in the Halloween Book Garden opposite. There are dozens of bags of books that have not been removed at home. Qingsong asked him to restrain himself and buy books, but he said, "I can't stop." Deng Yuhong also recorded many visitors: a teacher who once came to the bookstore once or twice a day, but later he gradually became forgetful and always took back the heavy books he bought and returned. An old man said after visiting the bookstore, "There are too many books, and I can't do it."
A girl often came to the bookstore in her senior year of high school. She came back in 2018 and told Deng Yuhong that she became a mother and her husband was a foreigner. Deng Yuhong and Qingsong were so shocked that they held their chins, "Where has the time gone?"
Deng Yuhong still remembered that some former clerks and old customers would go to the bookstore to report: they graduated, went abroad, worked, fell in love, got married, and had children...
The outside world is changing, and time seems to have never passed in the store. After the relocation storm of
, the frequent customers tacitly "cared for" the store, and readers brought food every now and then. One day in April 2018, the store received five gifts, including chocolate, big buns, snacks, snacks, drinks and postcards.
htmlOn the afternoon of August 4, Douban Bookstore posted a WeChat message on WeChat, "Which reader feeds me! Thank you." The picture shows two cups of milk tea, and the readers bring food to the bookstore again.The person who is obsessed with buying books is filling his own mental gap
html On July 27, Qingsong talked to a reporter from the Beijing News about the value, influence and resonance of the bookstore, but when it comes to the operation of the bookstore, he was unwilling to talk about it.Qingsong thinks he is a social terror. He grew up in Neijiang, Sichuan. He came to Beijing because of his depression. He felt that, in essence, he hated businessmen, but he did related things. He was disgusted with people discussing how much money the bookstore made, but in fact he cared about how much liquidity the bookstore had can maintain, which was "very contradictory".
Qingsong explained that in his mind, the bookstore is slightly beyond material existence, so he can't stand the materialization of the bookstore, but the bookstore does have commercial attributes. He has to think about how to get more people to buy books, which may require a balance point.
In Qingsong's view, the bookstore actually filled his mental vacancy.
He gave examples of those "weird" readers, most of whom are demanding on spiritual life and enjoying the joy of reading, although their income may not be very high. The world is uneven, and everyone has their own way of life. Some people are uncontrollably eating, while others are uncontrollably in books. A person who becomes obsessed with buying books uses this method to fill his own mental vacancy, and to a certain extent, he uses a bookstore to fill part of his spiritual vacancy.
Qingsong felt that he was actually very fragile inside. The bookstore gave him a sense of strength. The energy generated by the reaction of the bookstore and readers, and a sense of sacredness formed, which educated him that he grew up with the bookstore. This sense of sacredness has created a belief in his heart: "If there is no belief, some things cannot be persisted in, and you will be defeated by the world, such as poverty, poverty, and insecurity around you."
In Qingsong's view, people seek benefits and avoid harm. They need to protect their colors like animals, just like those around them, otherwise they will feel insecure. Qingsong agrees with this view: the bookstore gives him protection color, and he feels more comfortable in the bookstore, and he is actually not good at chatting when he goes out.
didn't think too far about the future, money is not the target
In 2019, the changes in Douban Bookstore mainly include: clerk Xiao Zhong resigned and changed to a new clerk. Because Xiao Zhong left, Qingsong recently had another job content: except on Saturdays, he had to write book recommendations on the WeChat Moments of Douban Bookstore every day, so he only had time to accept interviews on Saturdays.
Qingsong feels that opening a bookstore is like writing a novel, and it cannot be controlled. What is the bookstore that readers see? It is like. As for bookstores, some friends define him as "resisting everything popular", but Qingsong feels that he does not want to guide or convey what.
However, Qingsong has an opinion on reading.There are a large number of books now, but a large part of them are online fantasy novels, chicken soup, and successful motivation. It is "problem" to read books in a tool-based manner. Successful and inspirational learning can easily lead people to mediocrity. They are originally very individual, but after reading them, they all become extremely mediocre. It would be better to read without a destination. His understanding is that humanistic things will be of some help to people's spiritual growth.
, but the more core thing is still "vacancies". Although he was unwilling to explain the bookstore from the perspective of "vacancies", he seemed to unknowingly return to this angle. But what he wanted to emphasize more was the strength of his heart. He gave an example of Miyazaki's movie " Valley of Wind ". The wild boars are fully armed and are all weapons, but the girl who is fighting gives up the weapons and is full of them. What he interpreted in his eyes was that the real strength lies in his heart, not in arming with weapons. He felt that the bookstore promoted his cultivation to be strong inside.
htmlOn the afternoon of July 27, a new batch of books arrived. 65 pieces, 55 books each. Qing Song and the clerk used two carts and several trips to transport the books to the door. Then they were carried into the store one by one, very heavy, and quickly filled up a piece of open space. This batch of books will be sold for a long time. The weather was very hot, cloudy, and the cicadas were chirping. Qingsong was sweating on his back several times.Qingsong said that he did not think so far about the future. Living in the present, money is not the goal. He obeyed his heart's call. In fact, he felt that he was "incompetent" because he was not very adaptable to society. Opening a bookstore is not as everyone thinks. It is not against the trend or resisting social rules. It is just a "personal lifestyle."
"Now people's value orientation is too single, so you will think that this is the mainstream and this is non-mainstream. I always say that only the uneven states are beautiful. There is no problem with the mainstream, but there are other forms of existence. Everyone should have their own personal and individual lives and should care about the existence of individuals."
■ Qingsong's viewpoint
●The world is uneven, and everyone has their own lifestyle. Some people are uncontrollably eating, while others are uncontrollably in books. Those who become obsessed with buying books use this method to fill their own mental gaps.
●The total number of books is now large, but a large part of them are online fantasy novels, chicken soup, and successful motivation. It is "problem" to read books in a tool-based manner. Successful and inspirational learning can easily lead people to mediocrity. They are originally very individual, but after reading them, they all become extremely mediocre.
●It will be better to read without a destination, and humanistic things will be of some help to people's spiritual growth.
A06-A07 version edited and written by Beijing News reporter Zhou Shiling A06-A07 version photography Beijing News reporter Pu Feng
