One of Taiwan’s oldest and largest bookstores is to reopen under new ownership next month in Taichung, after being closed for 21 years.
Located on the corner of Taiwan Boulevard and Shifu Road in Taichung’s Central District (中區), Central Bookstore opened on Jan. 3, 1927, during the Japanese colonial period. The store was opened by the Taiwanese Cultural Association, which used the venue to host meetings of pro-democracy activists and to help develop a localized culture.
It was closed in 1998, with its owners citing financial difficulties. The space has since been used as a wedding gown shop, a convenience store and a motorcycle helmet shop.
Photo: Su Meng-chuan, Taipei Times
In 2016, the Shang Shan Human Culture Foundation obtained the rights to the building following an architect’s Facebook campaign to save it from demolition. Over the next three years, the foundation had the three-story building renovated in preparation for the bookstore’s reopening.
“The new Central Bookstore won’t be just a bookstore. It will have spaces for reading, exhibitions and talks, dining and other cultural activities. It will carry out the Central Bookstore’s mission of promoting localization and cultural awareness,” the foundation said.
The original Central Bookstore had been a publisher as well as a retail store, ran its own magazine and hosted talks, it said.
For many years, the store was a place where academics and other locals would buy books and meet friends, so it has a special place in the hearts of Taichung people, the foundation said.
The now-renovated building with its gold sign above the entrance has been attracting the attention of passersby, and many expressed anticipation of the bookstore’s reopening, the foundation said.
The first floor of the new store will focus primarily on books about Taiwanese culture and Taichung, will have a space for exhibitions and will also showcase selected local arts items, it said.
The second floor will have a play space for parents and young children, and will house lifestyle books and dining options, the foundation said, adding that the third floor would house literature and history works, as well as a space for public talks.
“Unlike at conventional bookstores, when people walk through the doors they won’t be hemmed in by a sea of books. Maintaining the building’s unique circular architecture, we avoided walling things in,” it said. “We kept the area next to the large French windows as a space for book lovers to sit and read.”
Fan Yun-lung (繁運隆), who is head of business operations at the bookstore, said he wants to preserve the store’s strong reputation and carry on the its mission of promoting local culture.
Store vice chairman Shen Chen-hui (沈貞慧) said that the store would emphasize cultural exchange and would not carry books such as educational texts or other “utilitarian” works.
The store will start trial operations in November and formally open in January, he said.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS