At 1：30 a.m.， most of Beijing is already sound asleep. Along the dark empty streets， only an occasional night bus roars past. On Meishuguan East Street in the city’s Dongcheng District， the only remaining bright light is at a bookstore. From a distance， the large “box，” enveloped in warm orange ambience， resembles a UFO landing.

This is Sanlian Taofen Bookstore. Even this late at night， about 20 people are reading there. Most of them stay in the basement and sit on the floor with a book in hand.

According to China’s 11th National Reading Survey released last April， Chinese adults read an average of 4.77 books in 2013， with the figure at 11 in South Ko- rea， 20 in France， and 40 in Japan. Due to the ferocious development of digital media， the popularity of digital reading has been increasing rapidly， with its major audience aging from 18 to 49.

While traditional bookstores are facing dire straits， Sanlian Taofen Bookstore has surprised many： The time-honored bookstore officially began operating 24/7 on April 23， 2014， World Book Day， after a trial run beginning April 8.

24-Hour Operation

A subsidiary of well-known SDX（Shenghuo-Dushu-Xinzhi） Joint Publishing Company， Sanlian Taofen Bookstore is situated on Meishuguan East Street， a famous cultural center which abounds in museums and theaters， and was named after famous cultural figure Zou Taofen （1895-1944）， founder of SDX Joint Publishing Company. Day or night， plenty of readers stream in hoping to find nourishment for their minds.

The bookstore’s position in a locale like Beijing， with arguably China’s strongest cultural ambience， serves as one reason for the bookstore’s good performance in terms of around-the-clock operation. On the first day of its trial operation in early April， night sales volume （9 p.m. to 9 a.m.） reached 14，000 yuan. Eventually， the figure topped 60，000 yuan one night. Throughout June， the bookstore’s sales volume at night remained satisfactory. From Sunday to Thursday， average nightly sales volume stands around 20，000 yuan， and that figure for Friday and Saturday is usually 30，000 yuan.

While brick-and-mortar bookstores in China and even around the world are suffering losses or even closing down due to competition from digital reading and internet book purchasing， it seems that Sanlian Taofen has held strong and found good reason to launch 24/7 operation. In 2013， China’s Ministry of Finance’s special fund for cultural industry development allocated 90 million yuan to 56 brick-and-mortar bookstores in 12 Chinese cities including Beijing， Shanghai， and Nanjing. Sanlian Taofen Bookstore received one million yuan. The one-million yuan subsidy， along with revenues， makes its 24-hour operation possible. Also， its location near convenient night public transportation is ideal for 24-hour operation.

No Easy Trends

Sanlian Taofen Bookstore’s 24-hour move won applause from many. In the latter half of 2014， a number of 24-hour bookstores will open in major Chinese cities including Beijing， Xi’an and Guangzhou.

However， the reality brought by statistics remains cruel： Of China’s existing 24-hour bookstores， most are operating at a loss. Few industry insiders are optimistic about the future of 24-hour bookstores. Cheng Sanguo， respected publisher and CEO of bookdao.com， believes that 24-hour bookstores only target a small group， and cannot go mainstream. Chen Shaofeng， vice director of Institute for Cultural Industries， Peking University， insists that around-the-clock operation makes little sense， and is a major waste of space and human resources.

This May， Hangzhou-based bookstore Happy Reading Tree began 24-hour operation. At first， its performance was impressive， selling 1，000 yuan worth of books in just ten minutes. However， after only one month， sales slumped. Page One， the renowned bookstore chain from Singapore with focus on arts and other cultural content， experienced difficulties in China. When it opened a Sanlitun branch in Beijing， it ambitiously announced that the store would stay open 24 hours on weekends and public holidays. But quickly， it began closing at midnight. Even Taiwanbased Eslite Bookstore， an iconic chain and the most renowned 24-hour bookstore in China， has only one location open 24 hours daily on Tun-Hwa South Road in Taipei. Its other locations close before midnight.

Many 24-hour bookstores are developing new marketing strategies. They are not“purely” bookstores. For example， only 30 percent of Eslite’s revenue comes from book sales. Food and drink accounts for 20 to 25 percent of the bookstore’s income.

The Road for Sanlian

Sanlian Taofen Bookstore is part of SDX Joint Publishing Company， whose predecessors were three leading publishers and book stores active in China in 1930s and 1940s. Specializing in academic books related to culture， literature， art， and translated social science books， the publishing company has developed a singular brand and reputation， widely respected by Chinese intellectuals.

“Our bookstore will never make profits the top priority，” declared Zhang Zuozhen， vice president of SDX Joint Publishing Company and president of Sanlian Taofen Bookstore， when asked what measures the bookstore would take to maintain night sales volume. Zhang explained that the major purpose of Sanlian’s 24-hour operation is promoting print reading and stressing to customers that they can read “any time they want.” And surprisingly， they find customers’ reading and purchasing activities before midnight almost as active as daytime. Zhang attaches greater importance to things other than sales volume.“My bookstore places social benefits above profits，” he asserts.

According to the bookstore’s observations over the past several months， latenight visitors are mostly young readers， such as university and high school students. Many of them not only read books， but also buy them. “Buying books is ‘contagious’behavior，” explains Zhang. “Some customers may not think of buying books at first. But when they see others around them buying， they will probably choose one or two for themselves. We find that for night readers who spend lengthy times in our bookstore， few return home empty-handed.”

Understandably， these night visitors’reading preferences vary greatly and fall into a wide range of categories. Facing an increasingly diverse audience， as a time-honored provider for upscale books， Sanlian Taofen Bookstore’s aim to offer readers high-end books hasn’t changed. However， they want to keep pace with the times， so now customers will find a greater quantity of bestsellers such as self-help books and readings on enterprise management on their shelves. Although it has caught criticism from traditional readers for book quality， Zhang remains optimistic.“We hope that the 24-hour bookstore will bring all readers a wonderful experience and enable them to find something to share with others.”