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Page One: New Bookstore Opens in Guomao
It looks like the bookstore competition in Beijing is heating up: Page One, a shiny (and rather sexy, to be honest) new bookstore just opened in Guomao today, at the Summit Wing section of the China World Mall. About 65% of their over 150,000 titles will be in English, covering art/design, food and wine, children's books, etc.
The group behind the new bookstore is based out of Singapore, and this is their second shop on the Chinese mainland (the first was in Hangzhou).
We browsed a bit, and were impressed to find decently-priced titles for pretty much every kind of reader:
The latest bestsellers (Lauren Weisberger’s fresh bit of chick lit Last Night at Chateau Marmont; the entire The Girl Who… series) are on offer for about RMB 89, as are vehicles of recent literary - if film-generated - buzz (Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go; Emma Donoghue’s Room). You can also pick up Dave Eggers’ hipster-friendly publication McSweeney’s (Volumes 28 and 31 were on display) for around RMB 200.
Readers of the old school variety can leaf through the entire Penguin classics collection (most starting at about RMB 80), or pick up one of their clothbound classics as a gift (Jane Austen’s Emma is RMB 165).
Page One is also known for its art and design books. Lots and lots and lots on offer:
Foodies will also be happy to note that Page One carries a pretty extensive collection of cookbooks and other foodie books. Serious home cooks can find the old (Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, RMB 744 for both volumes) and the newer (Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc at Home, RMB 414). Prices are a bit steeper than back at home, so it’s up to you to decide the worth of not having to cart pounds of paper in your luggage.
The Bookworm’s lending library is still hard to beat, and Trends Lounge at Sanlitun Village North will serve you coffee with your trendy reads, but Page One will certainly be a nice one-stop option for book lovers, with highly competitive prices. This fall, they’ll be opening up another shop near 798, so be on the lookout for more info when it comes.
PLUS: Speaking of good prices, we received a tip that the Renmin University Library is having a big book sale. Lots of US textbooks on business, law and sociology, and literature on sale for the next two days. Most books are going for RMB 20 each (often close to 99% off the cover price). The sale takes place at a small room in the back of the library. They're also having an outdoor Chinese book sale.
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My bookshelf at home is pseudo organized by whim. I've always been so bored of bookstores organized by authors' names. There are so many ways of organizing books, such as by year of publication or awards received or by colour or by targeted audience. Organizing by size is just so refreshing! Can't wait to meander through their shelves!
UPDATE: I was in the the other day looking for a specific book and yes, it's very clunky in its organization. Could get frustrating if you were on a time crunch or wanted to track down multiple books. The staff know it, too, because when I commented, "Your store isn't really set up that well for finding stuff, is it?" I got the awkward "buhaoyisi" giggle.
No, I'm not an employee and not related to Page One. I have no clue why it's arranged the way it is, but I was browsing more than I was looking for a certain set of books, so at the time, it didn't occur to me to be bothered by it. (Though I could see why you would be.)
I did inquire about one book I couldn't seem to find, and they went and checked the computer (they didn't have it). I guess that's your worst case scenario: tell the workers what you're looking for and they'll look it up for you. Annoying, perhaps, but it beats ordering books online, shipping them to the next Beijing-bound visitor, asking your visitor to lug'em to Beijing, then treating said visitor to dinner as a nice gesture, especially because books are heavy and annoying to pack.
Shrug.
If you know of a bookstore in Beijing that packs a superb, impeccably organized selection at Amazon prices, I'd love to know about it. 
Note: The Trends Lounge at Sanlitun Village North is currently closed. I spoke with a Trends Lounge rep who told us the Village management (Taiko) shut down their store to do some work on the building. At this point, it's unclear whether they will open in Sanlitun again. Their location at The Place is open for business as usual.@gregwebster: Yes, unfortunately "competitive prices" for Beijing still tends to be quite expensive. Selection is quite nice though, isn't it? Thanks for your comments.
Are you an employee or somehow related to Page One? I'd really like to find out why the store is arranged in a manner that prevents finding anything.
Note: The Trends Lounge at Sanlitun Village North is currently closed. I spoke with a Trends Lounge rep who told us the Village management (Taiko) shut down their store to do some work on the building. At this point, it's unclear whether they will open in Sanlitun again. Their location at The Place is open for business as usual.
@gregwebster: Yes, unfortunately "competitive prices" for Beijing still tends to be quite expensive. Selection is quite nice though, isn't it? Thanks for your comments.
I went today, and was really disappointed.
The selection was very nice, but as I stood there the employees were taking the books and organizing them by size, not author. I had a ridiculous time finding anything.
The prices are about the same as any bookstore in Beijing, which means a little bit overpriced.