Book collections on display at the refurbished Baixin Bookstore, in East China's Shanghai. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Baixin Bookstore, a time-honored bookstore established in 1912 in Shanghai, opened after refurbishment on July 31 as it turns into an integrated cultural and lifestyle space.

With books as the base, the century-old bookstore integrated diverse businesses such as dining, cafe, exhibitions, shows, paper and record stores, expanding the role and possibilities of a bookstore.

"The bookstore is a physical space. We must take into account people's diversified demands for offline consumption today, such as a dining area for food and leisure, (cultural) salons for social networking, exhibitions and lectures for their spiritual needs … We are trying to attract more audiences with different divisions of space layout," said Chen Xinqiao, 34, general manager of Baixin Bookstore.

Superpaper Sonic, a historic paper store inside the refurbished Baixin Bookstore. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The bookstore now mainly consists of six areas. In addition to well-designed book collections and categorized display areas, its dining space and paper store are eye-catching.

Named "Bao Du Bookstro", which basically means "to read and be full", the dining brand is inspired by both "bistro" and "book-stroll". Chen indicated that Baixin is like a book itself, and it hopes to provide audiences with a space where they can stroll through the books to get mentally full, and be physically full of tasty food offered at the same time.

Superpaper Sonic, the paper store set inside the bookstore, is another historic brand in Shanghai. Established in 1934, the store has been specialized in various kinds of paper, and is now looking to explore more possibilities in paper's utilization and combination with lifestyle.

Together with the opening of the bookstore, a cultural festival was launched. Running until Aug 4, the event featured a number of artists and a variety of music performances covering piano, folk, jazz, R&B, DJ and more.

The music area inside the refurbished Baixin Bookstore. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Baixin Bookstore, a time-honored bookstore established in 1912 in Shanghai, opens after refurbishment on July 31 as an integrated cultural and lifestyle space. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The dining area inside the refurbished Baixin Bookstore. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Book collections on display at the refurbished Baixin Bookstore. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Baixin Bookstore

Address: No 620 Fuzhou Road, Huangpu district