Is This the Most Beautiful Bookstore in the World?

As the saying goes, "Books open the window to the world." And yes, any old book will do, but perhaps none will spark your wanderlust more than the pages lining the book tunnel at the latest Zhongshuge bookshop in Beijing.

Zhongshuge is a small bookstore chain in China that is rather well-known for its stunning interior design. But, its location at the Galeries Lafayette department store at Xidan Plaza may take the cake.

As Lonely Planet described, the shop is filled with thousands of books for customers to peruse and even includes a study hall where visitors can sit down for a spell with a good read.

The shop also has a cultural and creative area, as well as plenty of spaces for young readers to explore and find their own space for reading.

According to Cool Hunter, the Galeries Lafayette Zhongshuge location was designed by Shanghai-based design company Li Xiang of X+Living. The team is also working on at least three more locations for the bookstore to keep the high-design theme going.

"All of the bookstores that we designed are inspired by local culture. The classical gardens and the reading space collided from three different perspectives, I think that's what makes it different from traditional bookstores. We connect various functional areas with different formats of space layout. Visitors will get more interested and more curious in spaces like this and feel more connected," a representative of X+Living shared with Lonely Planet.

As Cool Hunter also notes, the "it" factor of this bookstore extends far beyond the tunnels. Inside, guests can sit at the cafe, which comes with tables of various sizes all curving inward for a cozy but cool vibe.

"The arrangement of the tables seems random but it is in fact mimicking the gathering of ancient people in a famous Chinese painting titled "Qu Shui Liu Shang" after an ancient Chinese wine-drinking game played by the literati," Cool Hunter wrote.

Want to visit yourself? If you happen to be in the area you can go grab a coffee and a good book from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.