Taiwan's Eslite makes its debut in Suzhou

Taiwan's Eslite Bookstore recently opened its first branch on the mainland, in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, going against a trend where physical bookstores are shutting down.

However, what Eslite has built in Suzhou is not only a bookstore but also a shopping complex, on either side of which are houses and apartments that Eslite has co-developed with Mitsubishi Estate. The prices of the houses range from 35,000 yuan ($5,500) per square meter to 75,000 yuan per sq m.

The bookstore, covering 15,000 sq m, takes up less than one-fourth of the total 56,000 sq m available on four floors of the building.