Bookstore weaves a new village story

The garden also helps solve a problem. Bookstores need toilets.

It is impossible to connect water pipes and build toilets in a dilapidated old house, while a stand-alone bathroom — while feasible — would reduce the space to pure utility. Combining a functional need and the spiritual urge to ascend, the poetry garden has been built, the architect explains.

However, by this stage, Liu felt something was still missing.

The locals were worried that the renovation would largely change the old houses' aesthetics, making them incompatible with the village.

"We want the bookstore to blend into the land yet also stand out with positive energy and the spirit of Librairie Avant-Garde," Liu says.

After reinforcing the outside and structure of the earthen walls, they needed to unify the aesthetics.

Huize is historically a copper mining hub. Combining this with the ancient Chinese poetry line that translates to "there is a house of gold in books", which metaphorically suggests that knowledge and wealth can be found through reading, Liu spray-painted the bookstore's outer walls gold to achieve the effect of "blending in with the land, yet standing out".

"It's risky to use the color gold. Different shades of gold indicate different ethos. We did a lot of experiments and chose a brilliant, elegant one," he says.