Book lovers in Beijing are often pressed with a dilemma. The capital's several large bookstores are always crowded, leaving you far from in the mood for reading. Not to mention the fact that they don't really encourage buyers to read there anyway, since they provide no seating.

Some small bookstores or book bars are more appealing, with comfortable sofas and maybe a cup of aromatic coffee. But such places have limited book collections.

Located in Beijing's Culture-Subject Plaza, the newly opened Disanji Bookstore, which means "third pole" in English, tries to give book lovers a third choice. The four-story bookstore covers an area of 20 thousand square meters and carries over 300 thousand books. It even provides bamboo-made couches at every corner, for customers to take a rest after perusing the shelves and read. Miss Yang says she feels like she's in a library when she's in the new bookstore. "Just now I felt a bit tired. I sat there and took a break. I think the design of the store is considerate."

Besides seats, pens, and paper, computer book searches are also offered for the convenience of customers.

And, located in one of the Chinese capital's creative industry centers, the bookstore expectedly emphasizes originality and creativity more than any other part of its work. Near the escalators of every floor are zones for free art exhibitions, which will be changed every three months.

Artist Wang Gongxin has brought his new media work to the bookstore. "This work has been exhibited twice, and both in galleries. And I¡¯m happy that its first display in Beijing has brought it out of the gallery and into a public place. A public space goes well with themes I deal with in my art work."

Bookstores can reflect part of the cultural atmosphere of a city. And, with Disanji, it is apparent that business owners in Beijing have already realized the importance of creativity and brand culture, even when it comes to running a bookstore.

The manager of Disanji Bookstore, Li Song, says their model is world-famous bookstore chains like Chengpin, a major bookstore chain considered, by people in Taiwan, to be a "cultural arena."