Mephisto Bookstore is located in Shanghai. (Photo/Youth.cn)

Pan Caifu, a famous Chinese columnist, has theorized that sleeping in bookstores will become a major trend in the future. Bookstore owners will become landlords and host book-loving backpackers.

In reality, this dream has already been partially realized in Europe. A small bed that some famous writers including Ernest Hemingway slept in was placed in the Shakespeare Bookstore in Paris.

Lian Zhen, founder of Fengyasong Bookstore in Quanzhou city, is also paying attention to this phenomenon. As a girl with a deep interest in traveling, it is a must for her to find bookstores and snack streets when she arrives in any new city. "Sometimes I spend a long time searching for a famous bookstore in a strange city, but I'm always in a hurry to see the next thing. It would be a fantastic experience if I could stay overnight in a bookstore and have a good sleep," said Lian.

The old books displayed in Mephisto Bookstore. (Photo/Youth.cn)

Affected by e-books and e-commerce, many bookstores are indeed going through a tough time. Inspired by the booming development of the sharing economy in recent years, Wu Zhichao, founder of Mephisto Bookstore in Shanghai, together with three partners, has tried using one or two rooms as sleeping accommodations. The business hours of the bookstore are usually from 1:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. During this time, customers can enjoy the space to drink coffee and tea, see visitors and chat with friends.

Readers could sleep in the beds of the bookstore. (Photo/Youth.cn)

Sleeping in bookstores expands the possibilities of sleeping accommodations, no longer limiting them to standard hotels and apartments. Meanwhile, the short-term rent-sharing platform provides more choices to travelers with regards to space, location and landlords, which creates more freedom and possibility.

A tent is set up in the Fengyasong Bookstore. (Photo/Www.fjsen.com)

Will China's bookstore owners accept these changes? Pan Caifu did a promotional tour for The Light of City in Nanjing, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Xiamen and Quanzhou over the course of a week. During the press conference for The Light of City, founders of ten bookstores made plans to build lodgings in nine cities in China. Sleeping in bookstores may be common in China one day in the future.

This article was edited and translated from 《与书同眠 让书店成为你的睡房》. Source: Www.youth.cn