24-hour arty people: why all-night reading beats raving in Taipei

Letting people read without having to buy has turned the Eslite bookstore in Taiwan’s capital into an unlikely tourist attraction and a nighttime favourite for locals

If you are distraught at the closure of your favourite bookshop, you could try moving to Taiwan – to the island’s capital Taipei, to be precise. There, every night, a shop owned by Eslite, Taiwan’s largest bookstore chain, is filled with bookworms, hipsters, even parents and children.

When I visited the 24-hour shop, the busiest time was from 10pm to 2am. People were hunkered down in corners, sitting on the stairs, or hovering over the display tables. Everybody was absorbed in a book.

Yao Hong, a 31-year-old office worker, who was sitting on a set of small, hardwood steps, explained why Eslite’s Dunnan branch is a favourite hangout. “I come here three to four times a week. On Saturdays, I arrive around noon and stay till 4am the next day,” she said. “I’ve been to bars, but I don’t like them. I love to read. Here, I can read books I like and nobody bothers me.” That night, she had already ploughed through to page 275 of a 319-page memoir.

What attracts the large and loyal crowds is not only the wide selection of books – there are around 250,000 in the Dunnan store alone – but Eslite’s policy of allowing customers to read for as long as they want without having to buy. But how does the company, which has 42 branches in Taiwan and one in Hong Kong, make money (around US$430m/ £274m last year) if it lets customers use its stores like a library? Well, there is also a wine cellar, teashops, clothing boutiques, a food court and cafes. Music and dance performances, film screenings, art exhibits and cooking shows – all promoting books – are a further draw.

Taipei has plenty of other nightlife options in Taipei – from 24-hour karaoke bars and convenience stores with eating areas to night markets. But nothing has become an institution and landmark like Eslite. Some tourists put the Dunnan branch or the chain’s bigger flagship store in Xinyi on their must-see list. We came here after sightseeing and having dinner,” said 14-year-old Wong Xin Hua, visiting for the first time with her family. “We have bookstores in Malaysia, but not like this.”If you are distraught at the closure of your favourite bookshop, you could try moving to Taiwan – to the island’s capital Taipei, to be precise. There, every night, a shop owned by Eslite, Taiwan’s largest bookstore chain, is filled with bookworms, hipsters, even parents and children.

When I visited the 24-hour shop, the busiest time was from 10pm to 2am. People were hunkered down in corners, sitting on the stairs, or hovering over the display tables. Everybody was absorbed in a book.

Yao Hong, a 31-year-old office worker, who was sitting on a set of small, hardwood steps, explained why Eslite’s Dunnan branch is a favourite hangout. “I come here three to four times a week. On Saturdays, I arrive around noon and stay till 4am the next day,” she said. “I’ve been to bars, but I don’t like them. I love to read. Here, I can read books I like and nobody bothers me.” That night, she had already ploughed through to page 275 of a 319-page memoir.

What attracts the large and loyal crowds is not only the wide selection of books – there are around 250,000 in the Dunnan store alone – but Eslite’s policy of allowing customers to read for as long as they want without having to buy. But how does the company, which has 42 branches in Taiwan and one in Hong Kong, make money (around US$430m/ £274m last year) if it lets customers use its stores like a library? Well, there is also a wine cellar, teashops, clothing boutiques, a food court and cafes. Music and dance performances, film screenings, art exhibits and cooking shows – all promoting books – are a further draw.

Taipei has plenty of other nightlife options in Taipei – from 24-hour karaoke bars and convenience stores with eating areas to night markets. But nothing has become an institution and landmark like Eslite. Some tourists put the Dunnan branch or the chain’s bigger flagship store in Xinyi on their must-see list. We came here after sightseeing and having dinner,” said 14-year-old Wong Xin Hua, visiting for the first time with her family. “We have bookstores in Malaysia, but not like this.”

Transcrito de http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/shortcuts/2014/dec/07/taipei-bookshop-eslite-tourist-attraction?CMP=fb_gu