"It means we didn't face a tide of bookstore bankruptcy as we had imagined, but the pandemic did magnify weaknesses in this industry and urged us to make changes," says Cheng.

He points out that physical bookstores cannot support themselves by solely selling books, since online bookstores offer more attractive prices. Neither can they turn to refreshments to fizz up their profits, as professional teahouses, cafes and establishments will always be able to provide a greater choice.

As a result, he believes that, in the long run, physical bookstores can benefit the most by providing a public cultural service.

"This type of service benefits people by satisfying their cultural needs, and that is the advantage of physical bookstores," Cheng says. "We can provide beautiful reading spaces with no time pressure to read books and various cultural activities for free."

Therefore, he advises bookstores to adopt a business-to-business approach, which requires bookstores to cooperate with the government, enterprises and institutions to support the provision of these services.