Nanjing

Librairie Avant-Garde

This is a must-go place for travelers in Nanjing for its inspiring interior design and is a literary home for booklovers, especially those interested in social sciences.

It has three locations in the city and a branch in Wuxi, another city in Jiangsu province. The flagship near Wutaishan Stadium is claimed to be the country's largest single-floor bookstore, at 4,000 sq m. A long corridor lined with books is illuminated by a glittering cross at the end, portraits hang of the world's most accomplished artists, such as Picasso and Van Gogh, and each column is carved with famous verses.

There is a secondhand section, with books from as early as the 1940s, many of which are now out of print. Regular customers offer the majority of these old collections.

Flagship: 173 Guangzhou Road, Gulou district, Nanjing. 025-8371-1455.

Branch 1: 99 Caochangmen Street, Gulou district, Nanjing.

Branch 2: 292 Changjiang Road, inside Nanjing Presidential Residence, Xuanwu district.

Branch 3: 9 and 34 Xiuzhang Street, inside Huishan Old Town, Beitang district, Wuxi. 0510-8370-2691.

Keep updated with events on http://site.douban.com/bookshop/