Garden Books 韬奋西文书局
325 Changle Lu,
Jing An
near Shaanxi Nan Lu
长乐路325号
近陕西南路
5404-8728
www.bookzines.com
5404-8729 (fax)
Open 10am-10pm
Accepts International Credit Cards
- City Weekend
says -
This two-story bookshop provides an extensive selection of English-language titles for all ages. The young reader’s section stocks over 2,200 titles for children and features a play area complete with easels and colored pencils. The café serves coffee, Italian ice cream and sandwiches.
Reviews Been there? Add a review!
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DO NOT get the cake in the cases-- i have made this mistake more times than i'd like to admit. always stale, occasionally completely inedible, and they serve it with these weird mini-shovels. they have a good selection of (bagged) tea and it is only 20rmb for a pot. decent place to read, though not a lot of natural light. and yeah, books are way marked-up.
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This is a nice bookshop with a decent selection of books, and definitely worth a browse around if you're looking for something specific that you can't find elsewhere. The staff are courteous, and there's a nice little area for having a coffee and reading.
There is one issue I have with it though - the pricing. Never have I seen books so ridiculously priced - I'm assuming the owners are just aiming at those people who like to read and yet never leave the French Concession area (which is a sizeable market I imagine). Titles here can sting you as much as twice as they would at the Fuzhou Lu bookstore, and they definitely don't have the range of the latter (particularly regarding classics).
If you've got money burning a hole in your pocket, and an aversion to places east of ruijin er lu, then this is the bookstore for you (and it really is very nice inside).
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I like the selection at Garden Books. Every couple of months, there is a new group of books worth reading. And it's the only place in China I've found that has David Foster Wallace.
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Wonderful book store! It‘s not easy to find a satisfactory international book store, this is one of the best choices. Compared with other international book stores in Shanghai, Garden Books has the more beautiful place, fresher and more special books, more professional and helpful staff. Including a Cafe inside!
After all. If you're in Shanghai and interested in books, you can not miss it.
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The selection was ok, but largely the same as anywhere else in the city. But at about twice the price. Also, the English-speaking Chinese staff were not exactly helpful, not even making eye contact as we walked in, or answering our questions in a helpful manner.
The place is rather beautiful, however! But as that's the only real positive, there's not much to reccommend.
Seriously: unless you want to buy a book and sit in the cafe and read, then go to Gateway Plaza and the 6th floor Xinhua bookstore there. The books are half the price and there's roughly the same selection. Of course, the staff don't speak English, but you can save a shed-load of money and probably please your girlfriend/wife/boytoy/slave with the extra shopping and good choice of restaurants.
Who else hates that bookstores here aren't alphabetised! I had read there was a terrace and sofas to peruse books, but that's all closed up. Probably realised that due to the ridiculous prices people would sit and read and hence not buy the books.