For people traveling in a foreign country, one of the drawbacks is the difficulty in finding a good bookstore from which to choose a book in their native language so they can learn more about the country or its customs. As the cultural center of China, Beijing has plenty of bookstores with a large variety of books in all fields. Commonly, each big bookstore in Beijing is divided into sections according to different books for sale: Literature, Arts, Academic Books, Business Administration, Practical Books, Education, References, Engineering, Computer, Industry and Miscellaneous. VCDs, DVDs and other kinds of digital reading materials can also be found in bookstores. In addition to those, some bookstores have computerized Book Search to help the buyers conveniently locate the books they want. Furthermore, the bookstores will introduce New Arrivals, New Journals and Best Sellers to the buyers. Some bookstores even have Book Sales Rankings. These will help the buyers make their choices more easily.

Here are some famous bookstores in Beijing:

Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore
Chinese name: 王府井新华书店（wáng fǔ jǐng xīn huá shū diàn）
Xinhua Bookstore is the largest chain bookstore in China with thousands of branches. Wangfujing Xinhua Bookstore is known as the largest bookstore in China. It offers a large collection of books involving politics, economics, literature, education, art and science, with a total number nearly 200,000 books. VCDs, DVDs and digital reading materials can also be found in the bookstore.
Opening Hours: 09:00 - 21:30
Location: No.218, Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District (next to Oriental Plaza)

Foreign Languages Bookstore
Chinese name: 外文书店（wài wén shú diàn）
The bookstore has a history of nearly 50 years, and it is the preference of many foreigners in Beijing. The bookstore has a great number of books written in English covering literature, history, politics, art and even cooking. Most of them are published by Chinese publishing houses, while there are also some original imported books from foreign countries. There are several branches of Foreign Languages Bookstore in Beijing.
Foreign Languages Bookstore (Wangfujing Branch)
Opening Hours: 09:00 - 22:00
Location: No.235, Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District
Foreign Languages Bookstore (Haidian Branch)
Opening Hours: 09:00 - 18:30
Location: No.25, Haidian Xi Dajie, Haidian District

China Bookstore
Chinese name: 中国书店（zhōng guó shū diàn）
The bookstore is not very big one, but it offers many traditional Chinese literature works. The new books here are at an 80% discount normally, while there are some second hand books as well at much cheaper prices. Additionally, you will find an impressive selection of books on Chinese painting, calligraphy and photography.
Opening Hours: 09:00 - 17:00 (Weekdays)
Location: No.115, Liulichang Dongjie, Xuanwu District

Beijing Language and Culture University Press Bookstore
Chinese name: 中国语言文化大学出版社书店（zhōng guó yǔ yán wén huà dà xué chū bǎn shè shū diàn）
This is the best bookstore from which to buy Chinese language learning books of all levels. There are also dictionaries, encyclopedias, linguistic books and reading materials from which to choose.
Opening Hours: 09:00 - 17:00 (Weekdays) 09:00 - 16:00 (Weekends)
Location: Chengfu Lu, Haidian District

Beijing Book Building
Chinese name: 北京图书大厦（běi jīng tú shū dà shà）
There is a great variety of books from which you may choose. You will find books written in English in the basement, and there are many Chinese language learning materials on the third floor. The personnel in the bookstore are very helpful, and they speak English.
Location: No.17, Xi Changan Avenue, Haidian District

Yansha Tushu Tiandi
Chinese name: 燕沙图书天地（yàn shā tú shū tiān dì）
The bookstore is located on the sixth floor of Lufthansa Friendship Shopping Center. Plenty of artistic picture albums from home and abroad are found here. There are over 8,000 kinds of imported books, of which the books from Hong Kong and Taiwan comprise the greatest part. Apart from that, the classical CDs, VCDs are all worth buying as a collection.
Location: 6/F, Lufthansa Friendship Shopping Center, No.1, Yuanda Lu, Haidian District

Sanlian Bookstore
Chinese name: 三联读者服务部（sān lián dú zhě fú wù bù）
The bookstore is a large one with helpful staff members. What makes it special is its Internet Café on the second floor.
Location: No.22, Meishuguan Donglu, Chaoyang District

Import Books Bookstore
Chinese name: 外文进口书店（wài wén jìn kǒu shū diàn）
Located on the third floor of Foreign Languages Bookstore in Wangfujing Dajie, the bookstore sells mainly imported books. There are special shelves for publishing houses such as Oxford and Cambridge.

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