Li applauds 24-hour bookstore

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Pulling an all-nighter just got the highest endorsement - Premier Li Keqiang has put his weight behind Beijing's first 24/7 bookstore, calling it a "spiritual landmark" that will empower readers.

The 82-year-old Sanlian bookstore in Beijing officially started its around-the-clock operation on Wednesday, which was World Book Day, after 10 days of trial run.

Li's letter of praise was sent to the bookstore on the eve of the launch.

"It (the late-night bookstore) is a very inspirational measure," Li said in the letter addressed to all the staff of the bookstore. "It will greatly raise the awareness for reading."

Li, long known as an avid reader, said that reading is the solution to coping with an ever-changing society.

"Reading makes you calm, reading makes you resourceful," Li said in the letter. "It will slowly shape the person, give him/her a peaceful state of mind as well as an optimistic attitude to strive for goals."

Li's comments came amid a nationwide campaign in support of reading. A national regulation that will guarantee the allocation of funding and resources for public reading is taking shape.

Additionally, this year's Government Work Report has included promotion of public reading in its agenda. Moving libraries, community reading centers and other reading facilities are being built across the country.

"Reading has a lasting effect on the moral status of the entire society," Li's letter said. "I hope the 24/7 bookstore will be the spiritual landmark that leads more to the habit of reading and lets knowledge empower them."

The letter came as a response to Sanlian's report to the State Council on its trial run, which began on April 8, of staying open throughout the night.

"We told the premier that this attempt comes out as a very viable enterprise," Fan Xi'an, general manager of Sanlian, told China Daily.

"We have always had the tradition of caring for the public good and consider the late-night operation a boost for public reading," Fan said. "And it has turned out to be a very good bargain."

According to Fan, the 12 more hours of business each night brought in an average of 28,700 yuan during the trial period. The day shift also benefited, with a 55 percent boost in revenue. More than 800 people visited Sanlian, the bookstore and publishing house most famous for arts and cultural publications, during the evening of April 12.

"The premier's letter came as a huge boost of confidence for us," Fan said. "It also sets a much higher goal, to the extent that the bookstore should contribute to citizens' cultural values."

The store noted that its late-night visitors were mostly young readers.

"Knowledge and wisdom will still triumph over material good and other triviality," Wang Meng, the literary tycoon and former minister of culture, said at the bookstore's launch ceremony.

"It's also my own experience, which is encouraging, that more and more young people are taking reading very seriously. It becomes their friend and their lifestyle," Wang said.

Indeed, Sanlian bookstore is now packed even on a workday afternoon.

Questions:

1. What did Premier Li Keqiang call the bookstore?

2. How old is the Sanlian bookstore?

3. When did the Sanlian bookstore start its 24/7 service?

Answers:

1. A spiritual landmark.

2. 82 years old.

3. April 8.

About the broadcaster:

Lance Crayon is a videographer and editor with China Daily. Since living in Beijing he has worked for China Radio International (CRI) and Global Times. Before moving to China he worked in the film industry in Los Angeles as a talent agent and producer. He has a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Arlington.