WanSheng Shuyuan Bookstore in Beijing

WanSheng Shuyuan is a pioneering private academic bookstore, founded in October 1993. Initially located near Renmin University of China (中国人民大学) in the northwest of Beijing (北京市), the bookstore moved in 1994 due to the renovation of the Third Ring Road (三环路) to a narrow alley outside the East Gate of Peking University (北京大学). This move connected the bookstore with both Peking University (北京大学) and Tsinghua University (清华大学), making it a spiritual home for students from around the world. WanSheng became a landmark in the Haidian District (海淀区), creating a legacy of intellectual exchange.

In November 2001, the old street of Chengfu (成府) where the bookstore was located was demolished, forcing WanSheng to move for the third time, this time to a new space near Peking University (北京大学) and Tsinghua University (清华大学). During this time, the bookstore expanded its range of books, from humanities, social sciences, ancient texts, and dictionaries to art, literature, multimedia, and business management. The store’s area increased from about 80 square meters to 600 square meters, and its collection grew from 14,000 to 45,000 titles.

Name Origin

The name “WanSheng” originates from Halloween (万圣节), the Western “Ghost Festival.” The bookstore’s logo features an Indian ghost mask, which originally symbolized Halloween. However, as the bookstore became more widely known, people began to associate the name “WanSheng” (万圣) with the concept of “ten thousand sages,” representing the authors featured in the bookstore. Poet Xi Chuan (西川) expressed this idea, saying:
“I would rather interpret it as ‘ten thousand sages’, and these sages are the authors on WanSheng’s shelves. Among the readers who benefit from them, there is me, No. 1.”

Thus, the bookstore’s English name was changed from “Halloween” to “All Sages Bookstore” (万圣书园).

Business Features

WanSheng Shuyuan is unique in that it sells not only books but also culture and ideas. It combines business with social care and cultural critique. WanSheng was one of the first bookstores to establish a dedicated section for rural issues, mirroring urban issues such as urbanization and environmental concerns. As China experienced rapid development, the bookstore’s topics matched national issues, reflecting the bookstore’s commitment to intellectual and social engagement.

The bookstore also introduced a “Public Intellectuals’ Reading Table,” displaying must-read books on social issues such as taxation, ethnic issues in Mongolia (蒙), Tibet (藏), and Xinjiang (疆), as well as reflections on thirty years of reform. This table highlighted the bookstore’s efforts to address issues that intellectuals should care about and discuss.

In its early days, WanSheng Shuyuan was not legally recognized as belonging to its founders. Due to policies at the time, private capital could not enter the publishing industry without affiliating with a state-owned enterprise. WanSheng Shuyuan was initially managed under a collective enterprise label, known as a “red hat.” It wasn’t until the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (中共第十五大) in 1997, which confirmed that “private economies are an important part of socialist market economies,” that the bookstore was able to shed its “red hat.”

Today, WanSheng Shuyuan has become a cultural landmark (文化地标) in Haidian District (海淀区), Beijing, attracting intellectuals, academics, and readers from all over. It, along with the Thinker’s Cafe (醒客咖啡厅), has become a popular spot for scholars and literary enthusiasts to gather, read, and discuss ideas.

Core Values

WanSheng Shuyuan’s business philosophy can be summarized in three main features:

1. It is a bookstore where the book sellers understand the buyers’ needs and perspectives.

2. It embraces the philosophy of “If the road isn’t over, keep going” (路未绝，再坚持).

3. It remains true to its original intention—”Happiness for Learning” (幸福为学), as summarized by the new owner of WanSheng.

Thinker’s Cafe

Over its 16 years of history, WanSheng Shuyuan has moved three times. Its initial location was near Renmin University of China (中国人民大学). After the renovation of Third Ring Road (三环路) in 1994, WanSheng relocated to Chengfu Street (成府街), near the East Gate of Peking University (北京大学). In 2001, with the demolition of Chengfu Old Street (成府老街), WanSheng was forced to move again, this time to a space near Peking University (北京大学) and Tsinghua University (清华大学). It was at this location that the Thinker’s Cafe (醒客咖啡厅) was established within the bookstore.

The Thinker’s Cafe (醒客咖啡厅) spans nearly 400 square meters and has become a frequent gathering place for university professors (大学教授), intellectuals (学术思想家), business elites (工商界精英), and foreign scholars (外国学者). Liu Suli, the owner, describes the interaction between the bookstore and the cafe, saying:
“Many people who come to buy books already know each other, but the bookstore has no space for conversation. The cafe, however, provides a place for socializing. A lot of book buyers have a habit—they immediately want to flip through the books they just bought. After the tiring process of choosing books, it’s much more enjoyable if they can relax with a cup of tea or coffee, listen to music, and browse their books.”

Meaning Behind the Cafe

In the cafe, there is a painting with the quote:
“Who passed on this profession, hanging a lamp in the twilight.”
Liu Suli explains the origin and meaning of this quote:
“This line is from Zheng Chouyu’s (郑愁予) poem. The painting is an illustration from a book recommended by Shen Changwen (沈昌文), titled A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (谢尔·希尔弗斯坦). The first image in the book shows a lamp in the attic with the following verse:
‘There’s a light in the attic.
Though the house is dark,
The door is tightly shut,
I can see the flickering light,
And I know what it is.'”

Liu Suli’s wife, Huanping (焕萍), greatly appreciated this imagery. During the 25th-anniversary retrospective of Reading magazine (读书杂志), she recreated two illustrations from A Light in the Attic and added the modified line as a theme for an exhibition unit. After the exhibition ended, the painting was kept at Thinker’s Cafe (醒客咖啡厅).

Interactive Marketing

The interactive marketing model between the bookstore and the cafe has been a key to WanSheng’s success. Liu Suli explains:
“We wanted to find a way to organically integrate business with books, and this led to the creation of Thinker’s Cafe.”

Unlike many bookstores that simply attach cafes to one corner, Thinker’s Cafe was initially established as an independent entity, occupying about 360 square meters, more than a third of WanSheng’s total space. It quickly became profitable.

The interactive model between the bookstore and the cafe has been emulated by over 20 bookstores nationwide, establishing the “WanSheng-Thinker” (万圣—醒客) model as a major trend.