Behind him, a girl in a white dress is sitting on a wooden stool reading the Chinese version of Stuart Little.

Visitors can also buy stationery and items of Chinese calligraphy from a corner of the store.

The second floor displays ancient Chinese books－the oldest dating back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties (AD 420-581).

Since last year, when Sanlian opened its first 24-hour bookstore, people have questioned the feasibility and necessity of such a round-the-clock service.

Earlier, Chen Shaofeng, deputy dean of the Institute of Cultural Industries at Peking University, told Beijing Youth Daily that it was "meaningless" for bookstores to stay open from midnight to 8 am.

"If you spend 1 million yuan ($161,000) to meet the needs of just dozens of readers, it's a waste," he said. The revenues for Sanlian's new bookstore in Haidian district had declined in the first two weeks of its opening, that newspaper also said.

Nevertheless, after Sanlian's two 24-hour bookshops, more such places were opened, including Cathay Bookstore in Yanchi Tower.

Compared with other bookstores, Cathay is more of a public reading space, another presentation of Chinese and local Beijing culture.

Since the opening, the bookstore has seen not only loyal customers of Cathay Bookstore, but new readers, especially tourists.

"We are seeing more readers than expected. The Yanchi Tower bookstore receives more foreign visitors than our branch in Liulichang, which used to be the most popular Cathay Bookstore among foreigners earlier," Yu says.

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