Doomsayers have long predicted the death of the bricks and mortar bookstore, but the smart money is on smaller niche boutique boltholes like the Zhongshu Bookstore of Xi’an. Tucked away on the fourth floor of the city’s Xuhong Plaza, the two-level all-white cocoon is a veritable stage-set that’s straight of central casting for a utopic sci-fi flick.
Shanghai-based Wutopia Lab sets the scene with a cuboid, mirror-lined entrance that looks and feels like a cross between a retro dancefloor and Star Trek’s teleporter room. Ribbed archways open out in different directions, spilling visitors into a glossy white space that’s anchored by a glass floor and capped with swirling ceilings that are meant to evoke the dreamscaped Baiyun Villa, or White Cloud Village, from an ancient Chinese tale.
Elliptical bookshelves follow the contours of the ceiling, as do mini-standalone display pods. There are no sharp angles, just curvilineal surfaces that swoop around the store, all the lines leading eventually to a floating staircase – its half-turned form splitting into ribboned steel that spiral upwards towards a skylight.
With so much visual drama at work, almost passing unnoticed is the bookstore’s comprehensive collection of political biographies, bestsellers and vividly coloured volumes for children.§
INFORMATION
Website
ADDRESS
No. 67 Mingguang Road
Weiyang District
Xi'an
-
Exclusive: Airbnb’s next chapter as an all-encompassing lifestyle appThe home-booking app changed the travel game back in 2008 and now Airbnb is poised to do it again. CEO Brian Chesky talks us through the brand-new app
-
Yes, furniture can be ceramic. This artist is leading the way'There’s a lot happening under the hood,' New York ceramicist Devin Wilde says of his sophomore collection.
-
These fun, affordable digital watches are just the thing for summer timeFrom a classic Casio to a colourful Autodromo, have fun with your wristwear with a playful digital watch
-
Tour the best contemporary tea houses around the worldCelebrate the world’s most unique tea houses, from Melbourne to Stockholm, with a new book by Wallpaper’s Léa Teuscher
-
This arresting new photography book is a visual mediation on daily life in IndonesiaWith his lens, photographer Farid Renais Ghimas explores home, memory and the spaces in between
-
Prada and Wong Kar-wai dream up a cinematic restaurant in ShanghaiPrada partners with Wong Kar-wai to bring Mi Shang Rong Zhai to life, a dining experience influenced by the arthouse director’s seminal oeuvre
-
Enjoy heritage views and contemporary brews at a new Beijing caféJM Café, White Pagoda Temple by B.L.U.E. Architecture Studio nods to the history of the Xicheng District while injecting a shot of vitality
-
Must-visit cinemas with award-worthy designThere’s more magic to the movies at these design-led cinemas, from Busan Cinema Centre’s ‘flying’ roof to The Gem Cinema Jaipur’s art deco allure
-
China’s Alila Shanghai hotel is a stylish hub of idle tranquillityAlila Shanghai, the brand's first urban resort in Greater China, is a serene bolthole amidst the pulse of the Jing'an district
-
2025 getaways: where Wallpaper* editors will be travelling to this yearFrom the Japanese art islands of Naoshima and Teshima to the Malaysian tropical paradise of Langkawi, here’s where Wallpaper* editors plan to travel to in 2025
-
Travel back to the Ming dynasty at Beijing’s new Mandarin Oriental hotelMandarin Oriental Qianmen merges traditional culture with contemporary needs in a 600-year-old historical building complex
