The UK’s only brick-and-mortar Chinese bookshop, Guanghwa in London Chinatown, risks closing down due to a major rent increase.
For 53 years Guanghwa has been a staple of London Chinatown. Located along Shaftesbury Avenue on the edge of Chinatown, Guanghwa Bookshop’s deep blue-green storefront and elegant gold lettering draw the eye. Inside, the intimate two-floor store is packed full of books in English, simplified, and traditional Chinese, calligraphy supplies, and more. They offer art classes in calligraphy and painting, seal carving, and book talks.
More than just a bookshop, their long history has made them an important part of the Chinese-British community.
However, a sharp rent increase threatens their future.
Sitting in a backroom on the lower floor that is used for the Chinese bookshops’s art classes, manager Tianxin Tian said: “I need help from the customers. Maybe they can make a difference.”
She explained that in January this year, the bookshop’s long-term lease ended. Switching over to a short-term lease, they started negotiating the price for another long-term lease.
As time went on without an agreement, worry started to creep in. Tianxin began telling long-term regular customers and attendees of workshops about their situation.
In September, they thought they had a breakthrough. The head of terms for a new long-term lease was agreed with the agent who had been dealing with the negotiations on behalf of the landlord. It would have seen an increase in rent of about 22%. A number that Tianxin believed would be “a hard jump, but survivable”.
However, a month later Guanghwa received the news that the increase had been rejected. A higher figure was quoted, which would see rent costs jump by around 50%.
Tianxin believes such an increase would be too much for Guanghwa to survive.
This would be a disappointing end to a bookstore that despite facing many challenges before has not just managed to survive but become an important pillar in the Chinese-British community.
Guanghwa Bookshop was opened in 1971 by Mr K. C. Tang, who is originally from Hong Kong. The year it opened, he met Miss Lin at the bookshop. She would go on to become Mrs Tang, and they ran the Chinese bookshop together.
The early years were not the easiest for the Tang’s, in the 70s and 80s importing books from China was immensely difficult. However, they managed it. He would receive packages of Chinese language books by train into Kings Cross Station, something that made Guanghwa essential to academic institutions and libraries in the UK that relied on them to import books from Mainland China when no one else could.
Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to China in 1986, the first and only by a British monarch, was a major turning point for the shop. There was more interest in China and the shop saw more business, while the Tang’s were invited to give speeches about Chinese culture and run craft activities at schools.
In 2007, the Tang’s time at Guanghwa came to an end. They retired, selling the bookshop to Cyprees Books. A major distributor of Chinese books in the UK Cyprees and Guanghwa now operate as sister companies.
A few years later in 2012 they had to move from Newport Place in Chinatown to their current location because of a rent increase.
The Pandemic was another challenging time for Guanghwa. While it was for many businesses, it was especially difficult for Chinatown and members of the East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) community.
Recovering was hard, with sales only really improving again last year. Having worked for Guanghwa since 2018, since Tianxin has taken over as manager last year the store has offered more talks, introduced a queer and feminist corner, and added a second-hand section.
However, despite these recent positives, its long history, and importance to the community, it may all come to an end. The store is currently in a tenancy at will, meaning the tenancy can be ended immediately without warning. To agree to the increase of about 50% would not be survivable.
Running out of choices, Guanghwa Bookshop took to social media. Sharing publicly for the first time the issue they are facing they set up a form and asked people to leave messages about what Guanghwa means to them, encouraged customers to make a purchase no matter how big or small, and asked people to spread the word about the bookshop. Tianxin said, “I don’t know if the form will help us, but the thing is, I need to try.”
For her, it’s about what sort of Chinatown people want. “I know for the landlord, it’s a business problem. And I understand there are so many new restaurants and so many new bubble tea shops… and they do well here. But still, what are you looking for in Chinatown?”
“And I can’t imagine. If we really have to close or move, what will it be like? It’s not that we’re better, it’s that we’re different.”
In the messages left by the community, it’s clear just how much the bookshop means.
Many shared how Guanghwa inspired a lifelong journey of interest in China. One commented “As a teenager, I discovered Guangwha while seeking more information about China. It inspired me to take a degree in Chinese and to live, study, and work in China.
For people of ESEA heritage, it provides an important location to connect to their roots. One shop-goer commented “I’ve always felt a strong desire to connect with my cultural roots, but I didn’t know where to start. The calligraphy workshop provided the perfect opportunity.”
Another shared that Guangwha “enriches my life and makes me feel connected to my roots”.
Tianxin had her own memory to share when thinking back, smiling, on her years at the bookshop.
“So, it’s a very personal thought. The Chinese New Year parade. For the celebration each year, they have this lion dancing group. They won’t come to every shop, but they always come to Guanghwa and they do this performance just in front of our door. Like, it’s just for Guanghwa.”
“That’s the busiest day for us. We have so many people about. I will be very tired, everybody will be very tired, we have to prepare for a very long time. But I like that day.”
Striking a more upbeat tone, she adds: “The next Chinese New Year is the end of January 2025, so let’s see if we can still make that.”
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