It's got snack shops, restaurants, cheap clothing stores, and sporting goods stores, as well as the street stalls and neon lights that appear at dusk--everything you'd expect in a busy Taipei shopping district. But hidden away in the alleyways and tiny lanes there are also all sorts of independent bookstores. They do things their own way, but together they give the area its own special character.

According to a 2005 report by OURs (the "Organization of Urban Re-s"), in the tiny one-kilometer radius area of Kungkuan there are nearly 40 bookstores. Other than the big chains like Eslite, Kingstone, and Linking, most are small, independent stores with specific themes. The area has the highest density of independent bookstores in not just Taiwan, but the Chinese-speaking world.

Wing-Raw-Den has independent bookstores of every stripe. Pictured are, from left to right, the feminist Fembooks, the leftist Tonsan, gay bookstore Gingin's, Taiwan map specialist SMC Publishing (with owner Wei Te-wen), promoter of Taiwanese local consciousness Taiuan-e-tiam (with owner Wu Cheng-san), and the bright and modern used bookstore Mollie.

Army of independents

Hidden away in a small alleyway there is the leftist Tonsan Bookstore, which has been in business for nearly 30 years. There are also the world's first Chinese-language feminist and gay bookstores, Fembooks and Gingin's. There are Taiuan-e-tiam and SMC Publishing, which promote Taiwanese identity consciousness and multiculturalism, and Bookman Books, which brings together English-language literature and liberalism. There's a Christian bookstore called Campus, and several that sell books in simplified Chinese such as Lai's Books, Structure, Askfor, Shanwai, and Lines of Flight Books. There are also second-hand bookstores that are full of personality like Ku-chin, Kungkuan Used Books, Hsiao Kao's, and Mollie Used Books. It's no exaggeration to say there is an army of independent bookstores in Kungkuan.

Wing-Raw-Den has independent bookstores of every stripe. Pictured are, from left to right, the feminist Fembooks, the leftist Tonsan, gay bookstore Gingin's, Taiwan map specialist SMC Publishing (with owner Wei Te-wen), promoter of Taiwanese local consciousness Taiuan-e-tiam (with owner Wu Cheng-san), and the bright and modern used bookstore Mollie.

The independent spirit

What is the definition of an independent bookstore? Professor Kang Min Jay of Tamkang University's Department of Architecture has had a keen interest in bookstores for many years, and according to him an independent bookstore needs to have a number of characteristics. First, its owners have a clear idea of the store's specialty--they won't compromise their values and go mainstream in order to make more money or expand and abandon their original intent. Next, independent bookstores often have a close relationship with the neighborhood or other community--they are part of that community and people think of them as good neighbors.

"The third point is probably the most attractive one," says Kang: independent bookstores are old-fashioned, "mom-and-pop" establishments where the staff know the inventory well and sell not just books but a service. There is a strong personalized feeling to the service, and customers feel like friends of the staff. That's something hard to accomplish in a big chain store like an Eslite or a Kingstone.

Wing-Raw-Den has independent bookstores of every stripe. Pictured are, from left to right, the feminist Fembooks, the leftist Tonsan, gay bookstore Gingin's, Taiwan map specialist SMC Publishing (with owner Wei Te-wen), promoter of Taiwanese local consciousness Taiuan-e-tiam (with owner Wu Cheng-san), and the bright and modern used bookstore Mollie.

A reflection of a society

Kungkuan is in the vicinity of National Taiwan University (NTU) and National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), so professors and students make up a large portion of the area's demographics. It has been a gathering place for young artists and intellectuals for 20 or 30 years now. To satisfy the reading needs of these groups, all varieties of themed bookstores have sprung up. Non-governmental organizations dedicated to environmental, feminist, gay, and religious causes have also spurred the growth of independent bookstores. Kang believes that NGOs dedicated to such causes represent specific groups, and those groups might be able to form communities around local independent bookstores with which they share a theme.

"Gingin's, for example, is not far from the gay and lesbian support group Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, and they support one another. The Taiuan-e-tiam has a lot of books about Taiwan's environment and ecology, and they are closely in touch with the ideas of environmentalist organizations like the Society of Wilderness and the Homemakers' Union and Foundation," Kang explains. "The funny thing," he says with a laugh, "is that often the ideals and clientele of these various bookstores are in opposition to one another. Fembooks and Gingin's, for example, with their focus on gender equality and gay issues, are obviously far removed from the conservative Christianity of Campus. You could even think of these specialist bookstores as being a reflection of our multifaceted society in miniature."

Wing-Raw-Den has independent bookstores of every stripe. Pictured are, from left to right, the feminist Fembooks, the leftist Tonsan, gay bookstore Gingin's, Taiwan map specialist SMC Publishing (with owner Wei Te-wen), promoter of Taiwanese local consciousness Taiuan-e-tiam (with owner Wu Cheng-san), and the bright and modern used bookstore Mollie.

Tough times

Despite the fact that there are so many independent bookstores with specialty themes, they all face rising rents, competition from chains and online vendors, and a lack of interest from younger readers. Their proprietors admit business is getting tougher.

In mid-August last year, the 26-year-veteran Laureate Book Store, a specialist in books on philosophy and the humanities, succumbed after years of operating in the red, to the chagrin of readers. In July of this year, Artist Books quietly closed up its first-floor storefront near Wenchou Park. A trendy hair salon opened in its place.

Ms. Ho, a manager at Artist, says with resignation, "The publishing market has been really bad the last few years, so if things aren't going well, why not close up and rent out the storefront to someone else? It makes more money."

SMC Publishing general manager Wei Te-wen also laments, "Before when we published an academic book we'd take order slips next door to NTU's history department and sell hundreds of copies. Now we wait a long time to place the orders and we still only sell less than ten copies. There's so much information on the Internet, and students rely on fast-food-style, piecemeal information."

The high price of stocking books is another one of the independent stores' eternal problems. Chen Lung-hao, owner of Kungkuan-area industry landmark Tonsan Bookstore, points out that since independent bookstores only order small quantities of stock, they usually have to go through distributors or consignment dealers and pay as much as 70% or more of the cover price. Sometimes they have to pay tax on top of that. Eslite, Kingstone, and the other big stores, on the other hand, can deal directly with publishers for discounts and pay 5-10% less than the independents.

"The chains can even request to pay after they've sold the books, but the independents could never do that," he says. "If we get involved in a price war, we are the ones who get burned. Students are the hardest up for cash but they also have a lot of things to spend money on, so they are the ones who want a big discount when they come in and look at books. This also makes it tough for us," he sighs.

J. J. Lai, general manager of Gingin's, has also had trouble stocking his store. Last year, when Ang Lee's gay-themed film Brokeback Mountain was a global hit, the novel it was based on also became a bestseller. But the Chinese translation, published by China Times Publishing, had already been snatched up by Eslite, Kingstone, Hess, and the other chain stores, and the little stores couldn't get any copies to sell.

"In the end I had to have some employees go in disguise to a discount shop and bring back 30 copies," Lai says. "Ironically, the price at the discount store was even lower than we would have gotten directly from the publisher."

Wing-Raw-Den has independent bookstores of every stripe. Pictured are, from left to right, the feminist Fembooks, the leftist Tonsan, gay bookstore Gingin's, Taiwan map specialist SMC Publishing (with owner Wei Te-wen), promoter of Taiwanese local consciousness Taiuan-e-tiam (with owner Wu Cheng-san), and the bright and modern used bookstore Mollie.

The Wing-Raw-Den Association

Because of the difficulties the independent bookstores were facing, with assistance from Taipei City's Department of Cultural Affairs, two years ago Kang Min Jay and OURs created a plan for a designated cultural area around Wenchou Street, Roosevelt Road, and Tingchou Road called Wing-Raw-Den. They hoped that Kungkuan's independent bookstores could band together to order books, conduct marketing programs, and hold events, and thereby create new opportunities for themselves.

The idea of a "Wing-Raw-Den Association" captured the imaginations of booksellers, and as soon as it had formed it already had more than eight member stores. The association holds book fairs and promotions under the name "Wing-Raw-Den Independent Bookstores," and also works with the Taipei International Book Exhibition to hold bookstore tours, small-scale exhibits, and crafts markets. These events have gotten their share of media attention and the name "Wing-Raw-Den" seems to have stuck, but unfortunately, the plan hasn't shown much of an effect on sales.

Chen Lung-hao of Tonsan was an active member of the association at first, and hoped that they could pool their orders to keep costs down. He was put in charge of dealing with the publishing companies, but, he says, "Independent bookstores all have clear themes that are too far apart from one another, so it's hard to order together. Only if there just happened to be an academic study of Taiwanese lesbians published that Tonsan, Fembooks, Gingin's and Taiuan-e-tiam could all carry would it be possible for us to order together."

In addition to the bookstores, there are many coffee shops in Wing-Raw-Den, each with its own character. Pictured here is a Taipei resident enjoying some coffee while working online.

Like fireworks

Joint marketing efforts like a group book expo have caught the public's attention, but once the event is over and the crowd disperses, business is back to normal. The Laureate Book Store was an active member of the association and it still went under.

There has also been criticism online. NTU Graduate Institute of Building and Planning student Liu I-cheng wrote that Wing-Raw-Den is just a made-up marketing slogan and that the entire project is nothing more than a mish-mash of government planning and "materialistic and temporary ritual": "Like fireworks in the night sky, it's dazzling but it will leave no trace."

Taiuan-e-tiam's owner, Wu Cheng-san also complains, "There were so-called joint book expos, but it was a bunch of people selling crafts from stalls. A lot of people came out for it, but we didn't sell much. In the end, we found that the books we sold over the two-day expo didn't earn us enough money to cover the wages we paid employees to staff the event."

Facing all these criticisms, association leader Kang Min Jay admits that the association is not a magic cure-all, but says that hopefully it will provide some new options for struggling bookstores. "We originally hoped that after the plan was set up we could turn it over to the booksellers themselves to run, but they are too busy just trying to make a living. They don't have the money or the manpower to do it. If there's no way to keep it going, the association will have to be put on hold."

(facing page) "Wing-Raw-Den"--the triangular area between Wenchou Street, Roosevelt Road, Tingchou Road, and Hsinsheng South Road, near National Taiwan University--is home to many independent bookstores, coffee shops, and live houses. It's full of cultural atmosphere.

A map to the future?

Though the plans were no great success, there are those who say that the new Wing-Raw-Den name has brought the area's bookstores more attention. Wei Te-wen of SMC Publications, who has studied old maps of Taiwan for years, says he'd like to borrow a strategy from Tokyo's famed street of used bookstores, Jimbocho, and make a map of Wing-Raw-Den's bookstores with clear landmarks and introductions to each store. This, he says, would encourage domestic and international tourism and help people find all these hidden-away bookstores.

If such a detailed map were available around Wing-Raw-Den, it would be marketing for all the stores. Over time, it should attract more people to visit and browse. With the changing times and fierce economic competition, the bookstores of Wing-Raw-Den are always changing, and it is hard to say if such a map would release some of the long-term pressure. But if it could give more readers a chance to discover these tucked-away gems, it would at least come as a great relief.

This map made by the Wing-Raw-Den Association provides a guide for visitors seeking out the area's many bookstores.

Eslite Bookstore's NTU branch, which opened in 1996, has a great location across from the university's main gate and a modernist design--it's the polar opposite of many of the cramped, out-of-the-way independent bookstores in the area. Eslite is currently Wing-Raw-Den's most popular bookstore.

In addition to the bookstores, there are many coffee shops in Wing-Raw-Den, each with its own character. Pictured here is a Taipei resident enjoying some coffee while working online.

Wing-Raw-Den has independent bookstores of every stripe. Pictured are, from left to right, the feminist Fembooks, the leftist Tonsan, gay bookstore Gingin's, Taiwan map specialist SMC Publishing (with owner Wei Te-wen), promoter of Taiwanese local consciousness Taiuan-e-tiam (with owner Wu Cheng-san), and the bright and modern used bookstore Mollie.