The Beijing Bookworm...

...is my heaven in Beijing. Seriously. I'd call it one of Beijing's best kept secrets, but I think the secret has been out for a while. So what is The Bookworm? Well, it's a lending library. A giant, glorious lending library, tucked away on one of the side streets of Sanlitun. It's also a bookstore. And a café. And a hotspot for Beijing literary culture. Here it is in all its glory:

I'm personally a big fan of the nighttime picture, probably because of that "holy shrine" aura it's got going on. Anyway, the Beijing Bookworm has about three large rooms whose walls are stuffed with books from floor to ceiling. The fiction room is my favorite -- its walls are full of books that have obviously been well-loved over the years, and cover the full spectrum of literature. Here's my poor attempt at a 360° view from my little corner of the room:

That's it for pictures, but the room you can see through the doorway there, the main "hang out" room, so to speak, has lots of tables and chairs, a long raised counter, and a bar where you can get great food and drinks. That room has lots of non-fiction, covering quite a few subjects, including, of course, China.

The final room is the actual bookshop, and it has some of the most recent bestsellers in both fiction and non-fiction for hungry Western bookworms to buy. Their collection of books for sale on China, again, is impressive. I just wish the Western books didn't have Western prices. :( 

What's really cool about this place, though, is that it hosts a lot of famous authors, interesting speakers, and cool bands, and has fun activities like trivia night. And it goes without saying that the entire place has Wi-Fi available. But seriously, who expected a place like this to be in Beijing? Definitely not me. If only it wasn't about an hour's worth of travel away from my dorm, then I'd be there every day. Alas, I'll have to content myself with going on weekends.

Ok, I lied, one more picture. But it's so cute! Isn't it so cute?