‘Liberation through reading’: All Sages Bookstore finds new location but keeps unique place among Beijing intellectuals
- 30-year-old bookshop is a landmark in Beijing’s intellectual landscape thanks to owner and once prominent dissident Liu Suli
- He takes hope from the fact that despite ‘changes in hair colour and clothing styles’ the desire for classic academic books has not changed
When people enter the All Sages Bookstore in Beijing, the first thing they see is the shop slogan “liberation through reading”. Going deeper into the bookshelves, they will see book categories labelled “freedom, democracy and constitutionalism”.
In the corner of the bookstore are baskets of flowers, including some from dissidents previously convicted by Chinese authorities, to celebrate its recent relocation.
And yet the bookshop, which has been open for more than 30 years in Haidian, Beijing’s technology and education hub, still thrives selling academic books on political science, history and sociology, including many translated works of Western ideas.
On the last day of 2023, All Sages Bookstore was given new life in its most recent relocation to a major shopping centre, surrounded by prestigious universities, research institutes and tech companies.
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Shanghai bookshop brings light to people with vision impairment and other disabilities
The new location in one of the most expensive neighbourhoods in Beijing is more spacious and packed with customers.
