data picture, citizens read in bookstore. Photo by Wang Gang
China News Service Taipei April 21 Title: The publishing industry is in crisis, Taipei Bookstore Street "reform maps are stored"
China News Service reporter Long Min Liu Shuling
is located in Chongqing South Road Bookstore Street near Taipei Station . It was once the first choice for old Taipei people to buy books and go shopping.
Nowadays, Taipei Station is bustling and bustling, but Chongqing South Road Bookstore Street has lost its glory. Hotels are opened one by one, but bookstores are closed one by one. Shen Rongyu, chairman of the Chongqing South Road Book Street Promotion Association of Taipei City, told China News Service reporters on the 21st that there was a grand occasion of hundreds of bookstores in the past, and now only 12 are left to support it.
In the early years of Guangxu, Xingaotang Bookstore became famous in this street. Around 1949, many bookstores settled here one after another, becoming the center of searching and purchasing books across Taiwan.
Taipei citizen Yuan Fangrong, born in 1954, still remembers the lively scene of coming to buy books for the first time. In 1972, he was also studying at Chinese University of Culture . There are a wide variety of books on this street, and book shops are crowded with book buyers.
Shen Rongyu recalled that the 1970s may be the heyday of Chongqing Nanlu Bookstore Street. The romance novels of Qiong Yao and Jin Yong 's martial arts novels all touched the hearts of readers. "Sometimes, when the bookstore opens in the morning, I find that the book purchase team has been lined up for dozens of meters."
With the changes of the times, the younger generation is gradually reducing their reading of paper books this year and relying on more convenient online information. In the past 10 years, old shops on bookstore streets have closed down one after another.
The closest one was in February this year, and the time-honored brand "Jianhong Bookstore" also issued a notice to the cooperative publishing house that the store at No. 63, Section 1, Chongqing South Road was closed.
strolls in Chongqing South Road Bookstore Street. China News Service reporters saw that the hotels, catering and other business formats replaced the "hundred schools of thought" in the past bookstores. Shen Rongyu also admitted that Chongqing South Road Bookstore Street is experiencing a serious crisis.
But he still puts his hopes on, and the crisis turns around. In recent years, the Book Street Promotion Association has transformed into a reading business district in combination with the newly entered various specialty stores. The district not only sells books, but also promotes reading sports, allowing the publishing industry and bookstores to survive.
At the same time, many bookstores are also striving to transform and specialize in specialized books, such as Jinshitang specializing in bestsellers, Sanmin Bookstore and Tianlong Bookstore turn to the field of simplified Chinese books.
htmlOn April 23 is World Reading Day. On the morning of the 21st, the Book Street Promotion Association joined hands with the popular cartoon image "Helpless Bear" to hold a series of activities under the theme of "Helpless Bear Wandering Book Street with You". Combined with special stores such as bookstores, business travel, restaurants and life department stores, they use special sales and other discounts to increase the buying spirit of the business district.Cai Zongxiong, director of the Commercial Department of Taipei City Government, believes that the "Cute Bear" holding event is to break the image of the old bookstore street in Chongqing South Road Bookstore. "Cute Bear" has 430,000 fans and hopes to use the "cute" economy to attract the attention of the younger generation.
The three coffee shops on Bookstore Street also helped. You can buy coffee at half price by purchasing books for NT$500. The combination of book fragrance and coffee aroma also makes the literary and youthful atmosphere of Chongqing South Road Bookstore Street more intense.
Zhou Shuimei, chairman of the Taipei Business District Industry Federation, said: "Book streets are also business districts. Now we need to reorganize. When you come to the book street, you will not only have the fragrance of books, but also the fragrance of tea and coffee. The book street has too many memories of Taipei people, and you must regain the strong fragrance of books from the past."
Shen Rongyu said that Chongqing South Road Bookstore Street is a shared memory of generations of people in Taipei and even Taiwan. The old book city writes new stories, hoping to recall the past youth. (End)
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