It’s nearly the end of March but the promise of warmer days and spring flowers has been seriously dampened by this grey, cold, and misty weather we’ve been experiencing. These days, all my kid and I want to do is snuggle under a blanket with a few good books and a mug of hot chocolate nearby. Sadly, our home library is not as well-stocked as I would like, so we set out to expand it and found this little gem of a bookstore tucked away in a nondescript office building near Solana!
Located inside Golden Landmark Office Building on the ninth floor across two units (910 and 911), Mac Kids Bookstore may be the most comprehensive English bookstore I’ve come across in Beijing so far. Its inventory spans reading ages 0-18, offering plenty of board books suitable for toddlers to popular early reader series such as Dogman, as well as classics like Nancy Drew all the way to young adult books like JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. But if you can’t find the book you want on their shelves, the management are quite happy to bring it into Beijing for you. Of course, this is subject to customs approval from the government.
Another good thing about the store – they let you browse and read their books before you purchase! I was even allowed to remove the plastic wrapping off any books that caught my fancy if I wanted to peruse its contents. Then, there’s an intimate reading area at the back of the store with a few armchairs and a table where you can snuggle up with your kids for some quiet reading time together.
Mac Kids Bookstore is run by a wife and husband team Taiwanese-born Cindy and local Beijinger Jerry, and has been around for more than a decade. Thanks to their loyal customers, they’ve survived for so long despite the onslaught of online vendors selling the same inventory at much lower prices. Their service extends beyond their brick-and-mortar store as they’ll happily ship your orders to you via kuaidi. You can find them by searching “Mac Kids Books” in WeChat or call them between 10am – 7pm daily.
Truth be told, it’s been so long since I entered a bookstore with titles I could read that I was just thrilled to run my fingers over the spines of actual books. I’ll definitely be returning with my kid so that he too can experience that essential childhood memory I had of spending lazy, rainy afternoons browsing in cozy bookstores.
Find it:
麦克英文童书店
32 Liangmaqiao Road
Golden Landmark Office Building 910 – 911
Tel: 010 84542767
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Images: Vivienne Tseng-Rush, Mac Kids Bookstore
