Word got out last week that the Beijing Bookworm is slated for imminent destruction. This is sad news indeed.
The Beijing Bookworm has been a haven of intellectual and cultural vibrancy in the increasingly commercialized area of Sanlitun in eastern Beijing for well over a decade now. According to their website, the Bookworm first opened in 2002. My first visit there was in November 2006, as this photo attests.
The following year, in 2007, I was living in Beijing from June through December, and although I lived on the other side of town, I frequented the Bookworm. It was a good place to meet up with friends or get some work done on my laptop. The used book collection there was occasionally useful, and the books for sale, while not a fantastic selection, offered some decent choices as well.
But mainly this was a place to hang out, and to attend their special events. Probably the best known among those was the Bookworm Literary Festival which ran annually for many years. They ran a talk series featuring notable academics, journalists, and writers mostly focusing on China-related matters. Over the years, I attended many a fine book talk at the ‘Worm. I also gave a few book talks there myself. And I organized some talks for others to give to my students while on field trips in Beijing.
Alex Pearson, the original owner, was always supportive and friendly. While the food menu wasn’t anything to write home about, they had a decent continental breakfast. When staying at nearby hotels, I would often go there in the mornings to sip coffee and work as the sunlight streamed in the windows.
In recent years, while visiting the city, I almost always visited the Bookworm at least once. When the podcaster and metal rocker Kaiser Kuo announced his departure from Beijing in 2015, I attended the Sinica podcast he delivered with his partners Jeremy Goldkorn and David Moser. That was quite an occasion.
David Moser, Kaiser Kuo, and Jeremy Goldkorn delivering a memorable live podcast at the Bookworm on Sept 23, 2015
More recently, I was there for a jazz performance featuring Matt Roberts, David Moser and their Ah Q Jazz Arkestra. So, heaps of fond memories have piled up over the years involving the Bookworm.
So long Bookworm—you will be sorely missed—perhaps not so much for your food, drinks, or book selection, but certainly for your fine talks, literary events and cultural programming, which always made the Jing a more interesting place to be.