Shanghai's Bookshops: Where the City Goes When It Rains

Why Shanghai, and why now

The city has a long publishing history — it was the centre of Chinese printing and periodical culture through the early twentieth century — and a contemporary appetite for bookshops as places rather than shops. The result is a density of good ones that surprises most visitors.

Timing matters more than it should. In summer, everyone is outside; in deep winter, nobody lingers. October is the month when a bookshop with chairs and a window becomes the obvious place to spend two hours, and the city obliges.

• •Shanghai was the centre of modern Chinese publishing — the habit is old
• •October evenings make bookshops the natural place to be
• •Expect places designed for sitting, not just browsing

The big ones, and what each is actually good for

The multi-storey chains are the headline and mostly worth it. Several occupy restored buildings on or near Nanjing Road and the Bund, with architecture that is the reason to visit as much as the stock. They carry a genuine English-language section, and — more usefully — a strong design, art and architecture floor, where Shanghai's visual culture is well represented.

The smaller independents are where the character is. Expect one good table of translated literature, a wall of local-interest titles, and a cafe that assumes you will stay. Staff may or may not speak English; pointing and browsing works fine, and most shops are relaxed about photography in the public areas.

• •Large chains on Nanjing Road and near the Bund — go for the buildings
• •English-language and design sections are the strongest departments
• •Independent shops trade on atmosphere and a curated, smaller table

What to buy, even if you do not read Chinese

Photography books on Shanghai are the most reliable purchase, and the old-city and lane-house (弄堂) titles are genuinely good — well printed, reasonably priced, and impossible to find outside China. The art and architecture floor is the second reliable category.

The other worthwhile buy is seasonal: publishers release heavily illustrated books on Chinese festivals, gardens, tea and food, and the autumn tables are usually full of them. They travel badly by weight and beautifully by content, which is roughly the right trade for a trip.

• •Shanghai photography and lane-house books are the standout category
• •Art, design and architecture floors are unusually strong
• •Illustrated seasonal titles on tea, gardens and festivals make good souvenirs

Building an afternoon around it

Two bookshops is the right number. One large, one small, with a walk between them — the pleasure of this particular afternoon is as much the streets in between as the shops themselves. Pair the first with coffee and the second with dinner, and you have used a rainy day well.

If the weather turns, this also folds neatly into the rest of an October itinerary: a morning in a garden or museum, an unhurried hour in a bookshop while the rain passes, then the river at dusk when the air is dry and cold enough to want a coat.

• •Two bookshops per afternoon, with a walk in between
• •Pair the first with coffee, the second with dinner nearby
• •A reliable fallback whenever October weather turns

Our planning note

There is no need to schedule this. The best use of a Shanghai bookshop is unscheduled — an hour taken when the weather turns or the afternoon loses its shape. Leave room for it, and the city will supply the opportunity.