People's love for reading is evidently still alive, judging from the record crowd figures of this year's Shanghai Book Fair. Photos by Gao Erqiang / China Daily

Physical book stores look to be experiencing a revival in recent times as business owners begin to turn such establishments into vibrant cultural and artistic spaces

While the shuttering of various well-known book stores in Shanghai over the past few years seem to be a sign of the industry’s impending demise, the recently concluded Shanghai Book Fair showed that books and reading are still very much alive.

The largest annual celebration of books, readers and authors in the city, the Aug 17 to 23 Shanghai Book Fair drew an unprecedented number of visitors this year and showcased some 150,000 new titles.

The highlight of the event, however, were the beautifully designed pavilions by various book stores in the country that looked to be a resounding retort to the sentiment that brick-and-mortar book stores no longer have a place in today’s highly digitized world.

The State-owned Xinhua Bookstore had in recent years closed several of its branches in upscale Shanghai locations such as Huaihai Road and Nanjing Road. The Jifeng Book Store on Shaanxi Road South faced the same fate too, and these closures painted a bleak picture for the book industry in general.

But book store owners have seemingly bounced back by ensuring that their shops are more than just a physical space containing books for sale.