NEW CHAPTER BEGINS

A native of Longnan city, Northwest China's Gansu province, Qi Yulong became acquainted with Southwest China's Chongqing during his bachelor years here.

In 2013, Qi, who graduated from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts with a major in oil painting, quit his job in the metropolitan area and followed the footsteps of his idol Wu Guanzhong to Gongtan ancient town, Youyang, in Chongqing municipality. Wu is a contemporary Chinese painter widely recognized as the founder of modern Chinese painting.

"Isn't this the life I want?" he says. Walking in the ancient town, his heart suddenly jolted with a burst of ecstasy. "Many scenic spots have lost their original appeal and their own characteristics because of over commercialization. The commercial atmosphere here is moderate. Here you can slow down your pace and enjoy life," Qi says.

He bought a building near Yixiantian in the ancient town and decided to devote himself to living in Gongtan. He founded Mr Bookstore, and the initial 900 donated books from the Chongqing Library encouraged him to promote public reading. Mr Bookstore has become not only a study room for tourists visiting Chongqing, but also a reading room for residents in the neighborhood.

The first floor of Mr Bookstore is a cultural and creative art space which hosts Qi's stone art works; the second floor is a bookstore, where he neatly arranges the books he bought and books donated by tourists and booksellers. He has leveraged the comfortable space into something that is truly a community destination; the third floor is his residence.

Before coming to Gongtan, Qi had a steady job. After graduation, he passed the examination and went to work in a library in the main urban area of Chongqing, where he was responsible for the management and collection of ancient books and classics.

Once, a retired supervisor donated hundreds of ancient books. Qi felt that this batch of books was precious, and discussed with the library leader to put these ancient books on the popular shelves for readers to read. However, his proposal was not accepted.

"If you can't convince others, you can only convince yourself!"Qi decided to resign to live for his ideals, and finally he chose Gongtan.

Although he is not a native of Gongtan, he has probed deeply into Gongtan's history and culture.

"The three floors represent reality, ideals and life," Qi says. He has sold tens of thousands of artistic stones, and the price of each stone ranges from tens to thousands of yuan. This supports his ideals and life, so that he can devote more attention to public welfare and creation.

In recent years, with the assistance of the management department of Gongtan ancient town, Mr Bookstore has successfully held activities such as One Hour of Reading, People on the Road, Poetry Salon, New Year's Eve and Enlightenment and Vision for children. Nearby kindergartens and villages have opened branches of Mr Bookstore. Books are provided by Mr Bookstore free of charge. He manages the collections of the branch library and the bookstore to flow in an orderly manner, so that children and villagers around can read more new and good books.

At present, Mr Bookstore houses more than 8,000 books, each of which is carefully selected by Qi. He says he wants the bookstore to serve as a platform that really allows readers to find their own books and influence as many people as possible to consciously read more.