Creating a bookshop
Step out of the high-speed rail station in Hsinchu County’s Zhubei City and head over to the New Tile House Hakka Cultural District nearby. There you will see Or Bookstore in a two-story building that stands amid luxuriant lawns. This spick-and-span, light-suffused bookshop has been drawing admiration from tourists since 2017.
While many independent bookshops seem cluttered and cramped, Or prides itself on being spacious. Three originally separate old houses were opened up and joined together here, and an abundance of floor-to-ceiling glass windows were installed. Wooden furniture makes the space feel warm and comfortable. Here you can take your pick from nearly 10,000 books and read in one of the many thoughtfully provided snug reading corners. There’s also a lift to take elderly and disabled visitors to the vegetarian restaurant on the second floor.
Or Bookstore is shored up by substantial capital, but the books it stocks and the style it exhibits are nevertheless underpinned by the precision and distinctive charm that characterize small independent bookshops. Neither appealing to elitism, nor vaunting highflying ideas, Or seeks actively to engage in conversations with local residents. An informed understanding of local needs has enabled Or to source high-quality goods that are relevant to, and welcomed by, the local community.
Zhubei, where Or is situated, is home to many highly educated intellectuals and young families. Accordingly, Or selects books in the humanities which chime with its founding ideals, as well as books on the natural environment, agriculture, and sustainability which resonate with the vegetarian restaurant on its second floor. It also stocks many educational picture books suitable for parent‡child reading.
“To make locals proud, to touch and impress travelers”—this is Or’s motto. Sunlight filters through the green leaves and the windowpanes, dappling the bookshop’s wooden floor. Against the backdrop of a wall of books, children and parents are reading with smiles on their faces. This very characteristic scene tells us that Ben Chen’s dream has come true.
Or Bookstore provides visitors with many cozy corners where they can enjoy reading.