Rural buildings renovated by Librairie Avant-Garde: one bookstore in Fujian province's Xiadi village [Photo by Chen Hao/Provided to China Daily]

Even more surprisingly, Qian prefers targeting old villages that are hemorrhaging their young people, with just the elderly and children left behind. Those villages are usually located in picturesque surroundings, many with historical details.

Qian, accompanied by architects, will then choose old buildings from the villages to be renovated into well-lit modern bookstores that remain true to their original structures and decorative aspects.

Since April 2014, Qian has opened five bookstores in the countryside. All have attracted large numbers of tourists and even young villagers to return home.

Apart from their commercial success and resultant economic revival of the villages, these bookstores have become new public spaces for locals, benefiting the development of rural areas in the long run.