Unless you’re Chinese is absolutely fabulous, then reading books in Mandarin or Cantonese can be a long, tiring task as opposed to the pleasure it’s supposed to provide. But English speaking bookworms are not completely lost in China. In fact, thanks to the country’s almost insatiable desire to learn English, as well as a rapid increase in the number of expats here, foreign language books are becoming increasingly popular and available nationwide. We’ve managed to track down one place in Shenzhen where (fingers crossed) you may just find an English book that interests you.

Eon (Yiwen) Bookstore (益文书局) – Shenzhen’s largest and most complete original English language bookshop View In Map

Yiwen Publishing House is located in the CBD in Futian District on the first floor (south area) of Shenzhen Book City (深圳书城) and is hands down the best stocked bookshop for foreign language books in the city. The bookstore is Shenzhen’s first bookshop to sell imported books and is also currently the largest such shop in Shenzhen. It mainly engages in original foreign editions and stocks many different types of books. Here, the book collection is quite complete, as you can find books about anything from life and art to economics, culture and fiction. You can also find famous people’s biographies here. All in all, Yiwen Publishing House stocks over 20,000 foreign books. Moreover, you can also purchase magazines from all over the world here. See if you can figure out their slogan: “small window, large world!”

Address: 1 F, south zone, inside Shenzhen Book City, Fuzhong Yilu, Futian District, Shenzhen
深圳市福田区福中一路，深圳书城内，一层南区
Tel: 0755-82893888, 23992011

Shangshuba 尚书吧 – Coffee, wine and booksView In Map

A coffee and wine bar that stocks books? Have we got our info mixed up? Apparently not, because Shangshuba is another source of English language books also located in the southern area of Book City. The coffee and wine bar is a complicated mix of modern and old. Most of the books here are about designing and other similar subjects. Reading books can be very enjoyable here: black patterns decorate the ceiling, while the shelves are stocked with various old books and magazines stemming from the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. You can also find comic books on the shelves here. Throughout the store, Western and Chinese culture play against each other. For example, the bar is furnished with Chinese style chairs and soft Western style sofas or porcelain vases while wine openers are sold just beside it. There’s also another room within the ‘book bar’, with big shelves and tables on all sides. This room is actually quite spacious and is a great place to read books with your friends or to sit and chat. Prices are quite reasonable, with fruit juices costing around RMB 20. Coffee prices are about the same as Starbucks.

Address: 1 F south zone, inside Shenzhen Book City, Fuzhong Yilu, Futian District, Shenzhen
福田区福中一路，深圳书城内，一层南区
Tel: 0755-23992129

Brief Summary of Shenzhen Book City 深圳书城简介View In Map

Shenzhen Book City is located in the Shenzhen’s CBD District and it prides itself as one of the world’s largest bookstores. Here you’ll find a huge selection of books, movies, music and multimedia products. Story telling competitions are held for children between the ages of 4-8 every Sunday (in Chinese). Eon Bookstore and Shangshuba are located within this huge bookstore.

Getting there:
Subway: subway line 4 to Shaoniangong Station
Bus: 41, 60, 76, 107, 105, 234, 236 and all other buses that stop at Fuzhong Lu, near the CBD Book City
Address: Fuzhong Yilu, Futian District, Shenzhen 深圳市福田区福中一路
Tel: 0755—82893888; 0755—23992011; 0755—23992018
Website: http://www.szbookmall.com/Default.aspx (Chinese)

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