Following more than a week of speculation that Chengdu’s You Xing Bookstore (有杏书店, Yǒu Xìng Shūdiàn) would soon close, amid an outpouring of tributes from customers and supporters, it appears that the beloved bookstore and events space has been granted a reprieve and will remain in business. Started in August 2023 by former financial reporter and prolific blogger Zhang Feng and a group of friends, You Xing Bookstore has become a vibrant public space, providing books, coffee, free public events, and a much-needed sense of community following three years of “zero-COVID” policy-induced isolation.

The entrance to You Xing Bookstore: a clean, well-lighted place (source: WeChat account 麦客自留地)

On October 29, the bookstore’s founder Zhang Feng published a WeChat post announcing that due to “force majeure” (unspecified reasons beyond his control, likely referring to official pressure), the bookstore would be closing its doors on November 28. When an online commenter asked, "Why? The bookstore has always had such good events," Zhang Feng replied, "That’s exactly the reason." Zhang’s initial announcement, which he quickly deleted, has been archived by CDT Chinese editors, and a portion is translated below:

I had imagined many ways that the bookstore might end. The most likely scenario was force majeure—and now, this has come to pass.

You Xing Bookstore will close on November 28.

I nearly smiled when I heard the news. I always knew this day would come, I just wasn’t sure when it would happen.

My attitude towards managing a bookstore has always been: If you only had one day, how would you run that bookstore? You should live every day as if it might be your last.

[…] I think this is a great attitude towards life, and it’s also the direction I’ve been striving for these past few years: cherish every day, and do what you love—that’s what makes life meaningful.

My ideal bookstore is a place where the staff is passionate about reading, there’s great coffee, and everyone is welcome to come, share their opinions, and become their best selves.

I’m so happy that, to this day, the bookstore is still the way I like it. All of the events, too, are things I enjoy. I have no regrets.

Opening a bookstore is a creative journey that must someday come to an end. Like a work of art, it may not be perfect, and it may be “removed,” but it remains “complete” in every sense of the word.

[…] So it is, my friend. I have fought the good fight. [Chinese]

Since it opened, You Xing Bookstore has hosted many events featuring prominent writers, journalists, and academics from Chengdu and further afield, including Tsinghua University legal scholar Lao Dongyan; British historian Adam Tooze; and Chengdu-born historian Wang Di, who has written extensively about Chengdu’s teahouse culture, street culture, and public spaces. In early October, the bookstore had announced that a scheduled lecture by former agricultural reporter and popular-science blogger Xiang Dongliang on the topic of food safety and pre-prepared foods had been cancelled. Zhang later explained the reason for the cancellation: due to some communication difficulties while Zhang was on a trip to Europe, the event had not been reported in advance to Chengdu authorities as required.

You Xing Bookstore, crowded with patrons (source: WeChat account 蓝书屋)

But then came the news that You Xing Bookstore would be closing soon, and that “Zhang San Feng’s World,” one of Zhang Feng’s three WeChat accounts, had been inexplicably deactivated. Over the next week, Zhang published a series of WeChat articles reflecting on the bookstore, its legacy, and the vital role of bookstores and other public spaces in contemporary Chinese urban life. On October 30, he wrote: “A bookstore may be uprooted, but the ground beneath our feet cannot be. The fact that so many people came to the bookstore and participated proves that there is nothing illusory or fictional about the concept of ‘the people of this city.’” It seemed that You Xing would meet the same fate as many independent Chinese bookstores in recent years.

Chinese bookstores and publishers alike are facing ever-increasing commercial and political pressures. Recent closures include the cinema-themed “Kubrick” bookstore in Beijing’s Dongcheng District, folding for financial reasons after 16 years in business; and Haidian District’s eclectic and proudly non-commercial Douban Bookstore, also shutting its doors for financial reasons after nearly two decades. There have been periodic crackdowns on independent bookstores and online book repositories; new restrictions on the sale of Taiwanese books in China; and book bans, recalls, and social media censorship of books that conflict with the CCP’s approved version of history. There has also been pushback, with a few bookstores becoming the sites of small individual acts of subtle ideological protest. Some Chinese bookstores have gained a new lease on life by opening outlets overseas: after Shanghai’s Jifeng Bookstore was forced to close in 2018, it reappeared in 2024 in Washington, D.C. as JF Books.

After a week of pessimism about You Xing Bookstore’s future, on November 5, Zhang suddenly announced that the bookstore and its events would be able to continue. Zhang also suggested that the massive flood of supportive articles and tributes to the bookstore may well have helped to rescue it. CDT Chinese editors have archived over a dozen of these essays and articles, including some of Zhang Feng’s own WeChat articles, and a range of supportive messages and tributes from friends, patrons, and supporters of the bookstore.

A watercolor of You Xing Bookstore, from one of the store’s young patrons (source: Zhang Feng’s WeChat account 城市的地得)

The most recent archived piece is an article from Zhang Feng himself, titled “A Fresh Start: You Xing Bookstore Events Will Continue From This Saturday.” It was published on 城市的地得 (Chéngshì de dì dé), one of Zhang’s three WeChat accounts on which he blogs under the name 张3丰 (Zhāng Sān Fēng). The two other accounts are 成都客 (Chéngdū kè) and 张3丰的世界 (Zhāng Sān Fēng de Shìjiè, "Zhang San Feng’s World,") the latter of which has reportedly been deactivated. A portion of that article is translated below:

You Xing Bookstore has resumed normal operations, and our scheduled events will continue. The first of these is a lecture by [economics] professor Li Jingkui, "A New Understanding of Keynes and His Contemporary Significance."

Li Jingkui spent a decade nearly single-handedly translating 11 volumes of Keynes’ collected writings.

[…] Thank You to Everyone: Bookstores as Consensus

It is with relief that I can now tell you that You Xing Bookstore will keep going, and that we’re still in business.

Over the past few days, so many people have expressed care and concern for our bookstore. In the end, this outpouring of love had the marvelous effect of allowing us to stay in business.

So I want to thank all of you, including those friends who, although we might not know their names, exerted an influence.

[…] When I started the bookstore, I adhered to three principles:

All of our books are "legally approved publications."

All of our events are registered [with the relevant local authorities].

All of our events are public. Thanks to the Tencent Meeting platform, all bookstore events are recorded on video and can be easily played back and “inspected.”

Going forward, the bookstore will continue to adhere to these principles.

[…] I’d like to see bookstores thought of as a form of "urban consensus." After all, who doesn’t love a bookstore?

Even local residents who aren’t avid readers like to bring their kids to the bookstore to play in the evenings. The bookstore has tables and chairs, and while there may be some sharp edges, or books that could tumble from the shelves, no one pays this any mind. They feel that the bookstore is a safe place for their children.

The grid worker [personnel tasked with monitoring local residents and businesses] who visits the bookstore every week is always politely encouraging, wishing us “booming business.” When she learned that we were slated to close, she seemed shocked and disappointed, judging from her facial expression.

It is this brand of “consensus” that makes me keen to continue running the bookstore.

[…] My friends, I will not leave, nor will I give up easily. Today, witnessing this sort of consensus in Chengdu, I am reminded of exactly why I still love this city. [Chinese]

Another archived article is from Blaues Haus Bibliothek (蓝书屋, Lán Shūwū), a Chinese-language community library, event space, and foundation in Hanover, Germany. Blaues Haus recently held an event with Zhang Feng titled, “The Rise and Fall of Urban Public Life in China Since the Pandemic.” The portion translated below gives some insight into Zhang’s motivation for opening his Chengdu bookstore, and the need for more public spaces in Chinese cities:

Sichuan has a long history of teahouse culture. In recent years, the city of Chengdu [in Sichuan province] has seen a boom in independent bookstores. According to one statistic, Chengdu was home to 15 independent bookstores (not including second-hand bookstores) in 2023. To a certain extent, these independent bookstores offer residents a form of public space that is similar to teahouses, a locus for interaction and discussion.

You Xing Bookstore, founded by Zhang Feng in August 2023, is one such space. Opened by Zhang Feng and some friends, the bookstore was named "You Xing" (which means "there is an apricot tree") because of an apricot tree located near its door.

Zhang Feng said that during the pandemic years, people yearned for genuine physical togetherness, and this need fostered a desire for community. Independent bookstores play an important role in this, with many bookstores even staying open at night, offering new possibilities for public life.

In his lecture [here in Hanover], Zhang Feng discussed in detail the concept of public activities at Chengdu’s independent bookstores, allowing us a glimpse at the ups and downs facing independent bookstores, and the shifts in urban culture and the broader social environment that underpin these. At present, when public space is shrinking, bookstores have become places where many people seek value and meaning, venues for facilitating interaction and discussion that are deeply woven into the fabric of the city.

For Zhang Feng, running a bookstore is another means of public expression. [Chinese]

Most of the archived tributes were published before the reprieve, when it seemed You Xing would certainly be forced to close. A November 1 essay from WeChat account 麦客自留地 (Màikè zìliúdì) mourns the many other Chengdu bookstores that have closed, and reflects on how their loss has diminished that city’s public space:

Some people might be curious enough to wonder if, over the past two years, any other bookstores have disappeared or changed their business model—right here in Chengdu, this city known for being so relaxed, leisurely, inclusive, and vibrant. It is not difficult to discover that several of the bookstores mentioned in last May’s article "Why Does Chengdu Have So Many Independent Bookstores?" have essentially ceased to exist. Wilderness Books has closed; Wild Pear Tree has closed (except for periodic pop-up events in various spaces); Reed Books is currently in transition, with books no longer occupying the main space; Ge Bird, not mentioned in the article, no longer sells books; and now it is You Xing Bookstore’s turn.

They might also wonder why so many people feel sad about the disappearance of these independent bookstores. After all, isn’t a bookstore just a “store” like any other? Now that we can order books with our phones, why are bookstores still so important?

Perhaps some of these people will encounter a friend who will tell them about the meaning of the term "public space," and the importance of public space to the city and to the people living in it. Perhaps they will also discuss other things, such as freedom, and rights, and responsibility.

"Old soldiers never die, they just fade away." One might say the same of an apricot tree: when the tree falls, no one knows where the seeds it once scattered might end up—in which tiny alleyway, or in which distant city. The only thing we can be sure of is that come the next spring, those seeds will sprout anew. [Chinese]

On October 29, writer Huang Yingnan published “Tonight, Let’s Toast to a Bookstore That Is Disappearing,” a WeChat article commemorating You Xing, its function as a community space, and how being forcibly shut down by the authorities might actually be a “badge of honor”:

I learned about this bookstore because I first got to know the bookstore’s founder, Zhang Feng.

In 2022 and 2023, we had the opportunity to have two long conversations. During that [pandemic] period destined for the history books, I was deeply moved by these words from Zhang Feng: “Certain things are most meaningful when you are fighting for them. If you believe that these things are important, but leave the place that so desperately needs them, then you have truly given up fighting for them.”

Later, during a long conversation with a friend who knows Zhang Feng, my friend said, “We need a thousand, or ten thousand more Zhang Fengs in our midst. His presence reminds us that it’s still possible to live with dignity.”

You Xing Bookstore survived for more than two years. This year, I felt more strongly than ever that both Zhang Feng and his bookstore were entering uncharted territory, doing things that few others dared to do.

Courage is the most precious human quality, and Zhang Feng possesses such courage.

I recall chatting with a high-school teacher, committed to providing his students with a solid liberal-arts education, who told me that in all his years of teaching, he had never received any official awards or commendations. He suddenly laughed and said, “It just occurred to me that not getting any official commendations is the greatest badge of honor I could hope for.”

In times like these, when a bookstore is “forcibly disappeared,” it is a badge of honor. [Chinese]