There are many celebrity bookstores in Hangzhou, and if you feel that Xiaoshuguan is too far away from the city, then the Maijia Ideal Valley in the main city is also a good choice. Maijia Ideal Valley is a public welfare bookstore opened by the famous writer and winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award, Mai Jia, in addition to the function of the book bar, the bookstore also provides coffee bar, cultural salon and other services.
Maijia Ideal Valley has a total of two floors. Before entering, everyone must change into slippers or shoe covers, and carpets are laid on the floor of the bookstore to reduce the noise caused by customers walking around and create a quieter reading atmosphere, and to make it easier for customers to sit on the floor when the seats are full. The bookstore is not large, with sofas and cloth futons, but there are not many of them, and there is a free tea, water, and coffee access area at the bar at the entrance, which is very intimate.
Maijia Ideal Valley is the only bookstore in Hangzhou that only provides reading services and does not sell books. The bookstore has a total collection of more than 10,000 books, which are personally selected by the Mai family, and most of them are literature, and they are not allowed to be borrowed. The books in the golden book space at the entrance are all recommended by the Mai family, and the book is attached with a recommendation on the side. There are not many cultural and creative products in the bookstore, most of them are notebooks and postcards, and the income from cultural and creative products will be used for charity and public welfare.
In order to encourage creativity, Maijia Ideal Valley has also opened a unique literary writing camp model in China. The bookstore has a "Ideal Manuscript" bookshelf filled with excellent manuscripts that have been delivered. If the work is recognized by the Mai family, the author will receive an invitation letter from Ideal Valley, and will not only be able to live in a small bedroom on the second floor of the bookstore, enjoy three months of free room and board, but also communicate with the Mai family to discuss literary creation.
It's been five years since Maijia Ideal Valley opened, and despite its "celebrity-run" aura, the bookstore has been keeping a low profile, with most of the customers coming to read rather than take pictures. The bookstore is located in Xixi Wetland Park, and you need to register before entering the park, and readers are advised to bring their ID cards.
