Failing bookstore turns over a new leaf in Chongqing

After suffering losses for 19 consecutive years, Yang Yi, a bookstore owner in Southwest China's Chongqing, surprised everyone by deciding to invest more in his business. Using 5 million yuan ($720,000) out of his own pocket, he expanded the bookstore - moving it from its original 500 square-meter city center location to a new 1,600 sq m site in a quieter corner of the city beside the Yangtze River.

In addition to over 200,000 books, the store now houses a small amphitheater, study and meeting rooms, an art gallery, a cafe and teahouse, all blended into the broader atmosphere of a book lover's paradise.

Yang graduated from university in 1983 and worked as a university professor for five years before going into business in the early 1990s. In 1998, he invested most of his savings into a bookstore in downtown Chongqing.