The Bookworm, a centre of literary life in Beijing, to close, unable to renew its lease amid crackdown on ‘illegal structures’

A cafe, a community centre, a place for lively discussion and for authors to meet their readers, The Bookworm has survived for 17 years in the Chinese capital

Co-founder says it is a victim of clean-up by city planners, and won’t speculate on a political motive; patrons take to social media to voice their sadness

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David Cantalupo, co-founder of The Bookworm, takes a phone call at the bookstore in Beijing on Tuesday as customers look on. The store, a cornerstone of the expatriate literary community in the Chinese capital, announced it would close on November 11 having been unable to renew its lease. Photo: Simon Song

Published: 7:55pm, 5 Nov 2019Updated: 7:55pm, 5 Nov 2019

Book lovers in Beijing have been left saddened by the impending closure of a cornerstone of the city’s expatriate community.

The Bookworm, a bookshop in the shopping hub of Sanlitun that is beloved by expatriates and locals alike, announced on Tuesday that it would close on November 11.

Its general manager, David Cantalupo, told the Post he was very sad that they had been unable to secure an extension on their lease.

“[The Bookworm forms] an important part of Beijing and my life. We hoped that we could get an extension [of the lease]. So we haven’t really looked that much yet at other places. We need started doing that now,” he said.

Customers browse books in The Bookworm in Sanlitun, Beijing, on Tuesday. Photo: Simon Song

Founded in Sanlitun Beilu in 2002 as a small library where customers could buy books at discounted prices, The Bookworm moved to its current location at Courtyard 4 in Sanlitun in 2005. It later opened a branch in Chengdu, a city in southwest China, in 2006 and another in Suzhou, eastern China, in 2007. The Chengdu and Suzhou outlets closed in the past two years because of poor sales.