Kunming has such a traditional bookstore, which is known as the "most beautiful bookstore." People can't help but wonder: What is so beautiful about this "most beautiful bookstore"? It is the Oriental Bookstore.

The original site of Dongfang Bookstore was founded in 1926. The owner is Mr. Wang Sishun. Wang Sishun is from Kunming and graduated from the English Department of Peking University. The May 4th Movement broke out in 1919. As a new youth deeply influenced by progressive ideas, Mr. Wang Sishun started to establish Dongfang Bookstore after graduating and returning to Kunming. To say this is a bookstore, it would rather be a large bookstore for literati and scholars. During the Anti-Japanese War, book resources were blocked and even cut off for a time. Scholars from all walks of life came here to exchange old books and exchange collisions. Although the smoke filled the air, the collision and exchange of ideas were never interrupted.

Walking into the bookstore is like walking into a moving history. Bookshelves, bar bars, cantilever beams, door posts, and printed floor tiles are all reproduced on the original site, and strive to maintain their original appearance. On the wall are black-and-white photos of famous artists such as Lin Huiyin, Wen Yiduo, Lin Yutang, Qian Zhongshu, and Hu Shi. A series of collector's books sit quietly in glass bookcases. Walking up the building, the second floor with a unique sky presents a larger reading space. Dongfang Bookstore continues the past history with its own unique expression and reveals new connotations to readers.

In 1938, teachers and students of the United Nations General Assembly often went to Dongfang Bookstore to read, play, and exchange ideas on weekends. Famous people such as Wang Zengqi, Lin Huiyin, Zhu Ziqing, and Wen Yiduo were frequent visitors here. Wang Zengqi's prose once described such a scene: Kunming's used bookstores are concentrated on Wenming Street, and there are several used bookstores on the west of the north end of the street. Our relationship with these second-hand bookstores is not that we buy books, but that we often sell books... When I was at Southwest Associated University, I often had a break, sometimes I couldn't stand up in the sun, and I lay down with a quilt. Zhu Dexi saw that I had not shown up until nearly eleven o'clock, so he knew that I had not yet had lunch, so he took an English dictionary, walked in, pushed me,"Get up, go eat!" When they arrive at Wenming Street, they can get out of the dictionary, and they can eat a meal of crispy steamed buns or two bowls of steamed chicken rice noodles, and drink two taels of wine. -- Wang Zengqi's "Reading Cheap Books·Old Book Stand"

The bookstore has set a "eight no sales" store rule, prohibiting literary and unofficial history, immortality and cultivation, success inspiration, soul chicken soup, thick and dark strategies, etc., and does not deliberately cater to readers for sales, but deliberately cultivate high-quality readers. In addition, bookstores often hold a series of activities such as offline salons, book signings, and literary forums, which not only spread history and culture, but also integrate and focus cutting-edge ideas.

Avoiding the smoke of war and circling for more than a hundred years, Dongfang Bookstore, as the most famous bookstore in Kunming's history, has not been annihilated with the passage of time. The wooden window sill makes the slightly tired readers dream of returning to old Kunming... There is a ray of sunshine pouring in on the seat next to the window. The words in the book are always something cute. Whenever you read something interesting, you close the books in your hand slightly, order a cup of coffee, and while reminiscing, through the antique wooden windows, you can see children chasing and fighting downstairs on the street. After smiling slightly, he lamented that life is so beautiful...

Playing strategy:

Location:

No. 52 Wenming Street, Kunming City

Opening Hours:

Monday to Sunday 10:00-22:00

Transportation:

1. Get off from Metro Line 3 at Wuyi Road Station, then navigate and walk there.

2. Take bus No. K9 to Zhengyi Square in the city center and you can walk away.

Accommodation:

You can choose Howard Johnson International Hotel in Kunming City of Flowers and take bus No. K9 at the entrance. The hotel has rich supporting facilities, equipped with star-rated services, and strictly controls epidemic prevention occupancy standards.

Meals:

You can choose the hotel's Yunkui Crossing the Bridge Rice Noodles, which is a famous specialty snack in Yunnan, with a wide audience and rich side dishes and an elegant environment.

Warm reminder:

Please wear masks at all times and pay attention to personal safety protection.