INTRODUCTION
Another World Book Day has come. How to add sense of ceremony to the day? A visit to independent bookstores is a good way.
The so-called independent bookstores are those run by individuals or small groups. Unlike large and chain bookstores, independent bookstores usually have a closer connection with places and people. Through artistic space design, cultural activities and creative products, independent bookstores have become highly humanistic public spaces and important containers of urban aesthetics.
As the center of cultural and artistic exchanges between China and the rest of the world, Hong Kong is home to many distinctive independent bookstores scattered throughout the city.
Hong Kong Independent bookstore overview
Today, we share you with some interesting and unique bookstores. It’s not just a travel guide, even if you’re not in Hong Kong, you can still savor the uniqueness of these bookstores from the words and photos.
Wanchai 📍 Word by Word Book Store
From publishing houses to independent bookstores & Focus on Food
Wanchai 📍ACO Books
Rare Arts Building in Hong Kong
Mongkok 📍 Boundary Bookstore
Learn about local history & Push the boundaries of reading
Sham Shui Po 📍 Book punch
Buy books and get food free & Unique category
Sham Shui Po 📍| Hunter Bookstore
Owned by Former District Councillor & Travel in big world and fantasy space
Through this map, you can check the outlooking of the independent bookstores in Hong Kong, and easily find the closest one around you.
Go and have a look!
disappearing Paper books
Do we still need bookstores?
Books and bookstores have never been necessities, especially in an era when books can be read and purchased on the internet.
In 2023, the sales of Hong Kong’s cultural e-commerce platform, My Book One, continue to grow, with an increase of nearly 50% compared to 2022.
Therefore, what is the meaning of physical bookstores? With this question, we interviewed Ariel, President of the Youth Literature Award Association of the University of Hong Kong. This is her answer.
In order to better understand the reading habits of Hong Kong people, we found a report on a questionnaire on Hong Kong people’s reading habits on the official government website. The report shows that in the past eight years, the number of people who have the habit of reading paper books has been relatively stable, and far higher than the respondents who hold the negative answer.
To discover the whole reading ecology, we found Ariel, who is in charge of the University of Hong Kong’s Youth Literature Award Association. She told us about the reading habits of Hong Kong people.
” Buying books in independent bookstore is more like a kind of performance art: participating in public life and gaining some identity. An independent bookstore is essentially an independent space. What it sells is part of the independent personality and value of the bookstore owner. Therefore, the independent bookstore is a media, also an extension of the person.”
The controversial Independent bookstore
According to previous media reports, 45 new independent bookstores have been established in Hong Kong since 2020. But 15 have closed down in less than four years.
Combing through public information, we found that the collective plight of Hong Kong’s independent bookstores is closely related to the national security law released in 2020.
Following the outbreak of social movements in Hong Kong in 2019, Zeromount Bookstore in Sheung Wan had spelled out “Ideas are not afraid of bullets.” in red, white and black tiles above its front door. The phrase often appeared in anti-government graffiti during protests. In December 2021, Actors of the Times – A Group Portrait of the Anti-Amendment Movement, edited by Francis Lee, a professor at the School of Journalism and Communication at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, held a book-sharing session at the Zeromount Bookstore.
After the release of the National Security Law, countless books suspected of violating the law were removed from Hong Kong’s public libraries, including memoirs of pro-democracy activists and monographs on Hong Kong’s political self-determination. In response, Pong Yat-ming, the director of Hong Kong’s independent bookstore, mountzero Bookstore, has publicly stated that he will lend readers books and magazines that are being censored by libraries, and that “the same books can be read for free in Book Punch.”
The independent bookstore thus incurred dissatisfaction.2023 In September 2023, Mountzero Bookstore was accused of “illegally occupying government land” by the relevant Hong Kong government department and was asked to remove its floor. In December of the same year, the owner of the bookstore posted on ig that the bookstore was receiving weekly letters of “prosecution” from several government departments due to repeated anonymous complaints. The bookstore eventually closed on March 31 this year.
The “Mountzero Bookstore” in Mid-levels, Sheung Wan, closed in March 31 – Nearly 200 people came to see it off in the afternoon. (Photo by Zhu Anne)
Forty-five new independent bookstores have been established in Hong Kong since 2020, and fifteen have closed in less than four years.
Readers in action
Ariel, the reader, who belongs to Youth Literature Award Association of the university of Hong Kong.
As the leader, Ariel has successfully held some book events on campus. She also loves reading books and writing stories.
Recently, Ariel noticed that reading habits in Hong Kong are changing, and people are spending less time picking up books. She has her own ideas about independent bookstores in Hong Kong.
Click the button on the right! Learn more!
In the interview, Yan Lee showed us the dilemma of running her bookstore, but she believes that books will eventually reach people’s hearts. And her Boundary Bookstore will break the established boundaries of the secular world, bringing spiritual power to readers of different identities.
Upcoming Events
Never stopped exploring fun and never refused to think；
A cultural dialogue from the local, animal protection to feminism；
From movies to coffee and wine tasting；
It’s both a secondhand shop and occasionally a curatorial space；
The choice of book vision is unique；
Glistening with niche dexterity.
Epilogue
Perhaps, the bookstore is a long farewell to an era. We had no choice but to visit the bookstore as an evening date, and we celebrated the evening room with reading.
If an independent bookstore provides you with some kind of respite, the best way to support it is to buy a book, because for an independent bookstore, the book is a scattered piece of its soul, and everything else is an accessory.
We hope that books can lead people to escape from the noisy world and find their own place in the impetuous society.
The End –