In the middle of last year, Eslite Bookstore’s Zhongcheng branch closed, reducing the number of bookstores on Chongnan Book Street even further. The bustling heyday of the 1970s and 1980s, when over 100 bookstores lined the street, has now dwindled to just 15, with fewer than 10 still occupying ground-floor storefronts. These have largely been replaced by hotels targeting tourist opportunities. Yet, the street remains a haven for many book lovers. The “Chongnan Book Street Promotion Association” organized family events during the holiday, inviting fairy tale and cartoon characters to parade and lead sing-alongs and dances over two consecutive days. Children also got to dress up as little librarians, helping to carry books and serve as junior shop assistants for the day, immersing themselves in the world of reading.

Cartoon Characters Make an Appearance – What a Buzz

Xu Bijin, a mother from Taipei, brought her 5-year-old daughter, nicknamed Yu, to join the Book Street activities. “She loves reading. In the past, I used to take her to bookstores, read stories to her, and now that she’s learned phonetics and is recognizing more and more words, she reads to me instead.” Little Yu added in her own words, “I like reading picture books. I really liked all the books we just tidied up!”

Organizers invited the puppet characters from the Russian animated series *Masha and the Bear* to dance and take photos with children in front of the Celebrity Café. Kids also formed teams on the street to compete in tidying up scattered books on the stage and moving them to little bookshelves for shelving.

Event Focuses on Family Bonding – Huge Popularity

Shen Rongyu, chairman of the Chongnan Book Street Promotion Association, said that since reading should be cultivated from a young age, the annual events on Book Street focus on families—not only promoting reading among both adults and children but also boosting the local business district. Since last year, they’ve launched the “Little Booksellers” activity, where children visit bookstores to choose and read books, then share the stories with others. “Parents and children coming together to read and tell stories at the bookstore has been very popular. This year, over 500 children signed up to participate.”