Notes on Tandian of Shenyang Ninth Five-Year Cultural City

With the changes of the times and the impact of online bookstores, physical bookstores have closed down.

Over the years, I have basically bought books online, and I have hardly been to physical bookstores, especially large physical bookstores.

In my WeChat circle of friends, a friend sent a photo to Shenyang Ninth Five-Year Cultural City, which is said to be the largest physical bookstore in Northeast China. Although I am skeptical about this statement and have not verified it, it is good to see photos taken by others. I think I will go shopping if I have the chance.

I went to Shenyang for a business trip a few days ago, and I have already booked the return train ticket. After that, there is plenty of time.

Suddenly I thought of the Ninth Five-Year Cultural City not far from Shenyang Station, and I wanted to see what had happened.

The Ninth Five-Year Cultural City is located in the bustling area of Taiyuan Street, which is very easy to find. The appearance is no different from ordinary commercial buildings, needless to say.

Walking into the first floor, against the wall on the right hand side is a row of statues of eight horses, which are almost made according to the proportion of adult real horses 1: 1, and the shell is painted with various bright colors, which is very eye-catching. The wall is decorated with vinyl records and phonographs, and there is a photo of Audrey Hepburn.

There is an endless stream of people stopping to take pictures here.

The main hall on the first floor is a Little Square, which is mainly used for holding various activities. There was no activity on the day I went.

At the foot of the escalator is a row of doll clamping machines.

Sitting on the escalator leading to the second floor, my eyes suddenly opened up. There is a lot of space and bookshelves on the second floor. Between the library areas, there are also sports brand stores, snack bars, dessert shops and handicraft shops.

I looked at the book rack. On the second floor are mainly literary books, mainly novels and literary masterpieces. There are also counters for mystery novels, which are classified according to Japan, Europe, America and China, and placed neatly. There are many books by Keigo Higashino, which occupy a prominent position.

In the pure literature book area, I saw a new edition of Osamu Dazai's Disqualification on Earth, with several red lanterns on the cover, which was very festive. Who would have thought that it was full of sad and desperate stories?

I don't know why Osamu Dazai's books are so popular in China. Disqualification has at least a dozen versions on the earth, and there are several collections of his works. I have seen some of them, and the translation level is uneven. Moreover, as far as I know, there is no complete collection.

There are some books in the bookstore, so do I. I bought them all online, and I haven't seen some of them yet.

Books normally sold here are sold at fixed prices, so you can enjoy certain discounts only if you have a membership stored-value card.

Many bookshelves are too high for normal people to reach. The bookstore is equipped with some folding ladders, which are placed near the bookshelves for readers to use.

There are also Hong Kong and Taiwan book counters and foreign language book counters. I glanced at it and found that the price was much higher than that on the Internet. I've also seen the Taiwan version of Ghost Blowing Lantern, but it doesn't seem to appear in the whole series in Chinese mainland. I picked up the book and saw that it was fan fiction.

Most of the new books on sale are packed in plastic, and the bookstore takes out some unpacked sample books for readers to try. Many readers just sit there and read books, as if they had been reading for a long time.

The scene of long queues for payment seen in large physical bookstores in the past is not here. Only sporadic readers buy books occasionally, and most of them are just reading books.

There is also an open lecture hall on the second floor, where a lecture on paleontology for teenagers was being held.

There are many similar shops in the commercial street between the library areas in my hometown. If I had visited these stores with relish more than ten years ago, I might be old now and have no interest in them.

After visiting the second floor, I took the escalator to the third floor. On the third floor, the shopkeeper wants to sell children's picture books, stories, primary and secondary school textbooks, etc. There are also small shops such as stationery stores and parent-child reading halls around the library area.

On the fourth floor are reference books, science and technology books, etc. The fifth floor is the member center, and some booths are free. I haven't visited these two floors much, but I went up to the sixth floor again.

The sixth floor is mainly a cinema, decorated in the style of the Republic of China. A large black-and-white photo of the old Fengtian (formerly Shenyang) railway station is posted on the outer wall. There are photography shops, cafes and small restaurants on this floor.

Walking out of the ninth five-year cultural city, I secretly lamented that the times are changing! Physical bookstores can no longer rely solely on selling books for profit, but also begin to engage in diversified operations, so they have been turned into a comprehensive cultural city integrating reading, leisure, catering and entertainment.