Into the temple of the written word

The books are donated by the public. When the library opened, one aim was to create a mobile－in the old sense of the word－reading community, readers being allowed to take one book home if they gave three to the library.

"However, in two months, we abandoned that idea," Zhou said. "We were always being given bad books. Even now, we need to be very picky, and we are on the lookout for books that promote cults, and pornography, too."

The bookworm Zhou is very much in his element in the library. When he is free, he says, he takes a book from a shelf and reads it until the library closes.

"I cannot remember how many books I have read."

In the library, visitors sit on the wooden floor, leaning against the shelf-walls, and enjoying their reading, the languid air occasionally broken by the we're-only-here-for-the-pictures brigade.

The library's steps are a magnet for children, akin to a feature in an amusement park, but most prefer to stay outside.

Zhou Liming said that since the library opened it has drawn visitors from far and wide to the area, and that has been good for locals, and not just economically.

"It used to be that if villagers wanted to read library books they had to travel 30 kilometers. Now we can read here. This morning, children from the village were here at 9 am just to read."

If you go

The library is a modest addition to the small village of Jiaojiehe in Huairou, just under two hours' drive from downtown Beijing. By subway, go to Houshayu station on line 15. You then take bus No 315 to Yanqizhen. From there change to bus H25, which will take you to the entrance of the village.