No glamorous chandeliers , no extravagant façade -- to find the most beautiful bookshop in China , travelers just have to follow the yellow-striped road to an underground car park . Before Librairie Avant-Garde owner Qian Xiaohua , 50 , obtained the 4,000-square-meter underground space beneath Wutaishan Stadium in Nanjing in 1999 , it was a government car park and , earlier , a bomb shelter . `` We chose this car park because it borders Nanjing University -- it has become the second library for university students , '' says Qian . `` There is an old saying in Chinese -- turn something rotten into a miracle . '' Instead of a shelf for best-selling books , visitors are welcomed by a replica of Rodin 's `` The Thinker '' sculpture . The cashier counter is built from thousands of old books . `` You walk up the slope that still retains its yellow traffic stripes on the ground between two rows of shelves , '' says Qian , as though he 'd just opened the shop a week ago . `` After that , look back and you 'll see a big shining cross that shines upon you , as well as many others that came here before you . '' Reading as religion . Qian converted to Christianity when he quit a job with the provincial government to open the first Librairie Avant-Garde , across the street from the St. Paul Cathedral . It was a tiny store -- 17 square meters . `` I listened to the hymns coming from the church every day and I felt so peaceful , '' says Qian . `` Then I became a Christian . '' That explains the large crosses in all of shop 's branches . But it 's not simple Christian faith Qian is promoting . `` We aim to be a humanities bookstore as well as a religious store , '' says Zhang Xing , manager of the Wutaichan shop . `` Here in Librairie Avant-Garde , reading is our religion and this place is the heaven for book lovers . '' The main hall of the bookstore serves as a forum for talks and concerts . It also houses a homey coffee shop , permanent exhibition space for beautiful book designs and a retail area for creative works by Nanjingers . Qian 's favorite artworks hang from the ceiling . Pillars in the store are etched with famous verses and poems . Book shops reflect city 's well being . The beauty of Qian 's bookstore lies in its unique way of operating . Qian sees his shop as a kind of public library . Two long reading tables and more than 300 seats are available for readers who are encouraged to stay and read in the shop 's main hall . `` I come here very often because they stock a wide range of books and they do n't discriminate against readers who just want to read , '' says Robin Wang , a recent graduate from a local university . She says she came to the store twice a week during her years in the university . `` A good bookshop should provide space , vision and nurture the city with its humanitarian spirit , '' says Qian . `` It 's a place for people to have dreams in the city . '' As Chinese cities undergo rapid development , and e-books chip away at the market for traditional books , many independent book stores are facing financial difficulties across the country . `` Independent book shops represent the well being of the city , '' says Qian . `` When a city is losing its bookshops , it 's actually losing something in its soul . '' Librairie Avant-Garde operates two other stores in Nanjing , including one inside the Presidential Palace . Its latest store is its first outside of Nanjing ; it 's located in the old town in Wuxi . But it 's the special car park location and design that 's made the main shop a tourist landmark of the city . `` Librairie Avant-Garde has unintentionally become the city 's tourist spot , '' says Qian . `` Tourists come here to observe the culture of a city , to exchange cultures and it 's also become a new meeting spot in Nanjing . '' Librairie Avant-Garde , 173 Guangzhou lu ( next to Wutaishan Stadium ) , Gulou District , Nanjing ; +86 25 8371 1455 ; open daily from 10 a.m.-9 p.m .
Perhaps China 's most beautiful bookstore , Librairie Avant - garde is in an underground car park . The shop 's owner says reading is a religion . The building is also a coffee shop , exhibition space and public forum .