Under the impact of e-commerce, traditional bookstores were in a dilemma. They had to change to survive, but still offer traditional pleasures, like books. They had to be both old, and new; museums satisfying a mental zest for life, as well as cultural venues meeting broader spiritual aspirations.

The traditional bookstore.[Photo/my399.com]

So, traditional bookstores that relied on book sales to live have changed. Today they offer readers more modern content like salons, lectures, and themed events -- even a wedding or birthday party with refreshments.

The new style boostore.[Photo/my399.com]

E-commerce giants have taken this new range of bookstore experience to heart. Amazon, an e-commerce book-sales giant, opened its first offline bookstores in Seattle in 2015. Dangdang, an online bookstore in China, intends to open 1000 offline bookstores. Muji, a Japanese e-commerce supplier, introduced the concept of Muji books in its Shanghai Muji flagship shop, which is the biggest such anchor store in mainland China.

To create a cultural environment is proving a good way for bookstores to transform. The Damai painting room in Heiloongjiang’s Xinhua boostore attracts lots of students and children to spend their spare time being creative with color. Zhongyang bookstore in Harbin invites celebrities and online writers, like Yanchongnian and Kongergou, to give public talks.

Online celebrities in Zhongyang boosstore.[Photo/my399.com]

Traditional bookstores are also looking for suitable items to sell, such as collections of antiques, hand-made leather bags, notebooks, bookmarks, or accessories; all of them are attractive to readers.

The colloections of antiques in a new style bookstore.[Photo/my399.com]

The evolution of bookstores is to let people experience the quality of life, and to create a comfortable environment for readers, whether adults, students or children.