A work By Chance in the Guanyinqiao Station of Line 3.

A person is reading in By Chance.

CHONGQING (CQNEWS) -- It is a room with 3m×3m, where there are soft carpets, a yellow soft chair and a small square table. In addition, table lights and alternative books are available here. Do you want to slow down and go here to read some books when seeing this comfortable corner? If it is, Yang Yi, the founder of Clessence Bookstore, has already achieved his goal. 

Clessence Bookstore, a local bookstore, has been built for 20 years this year. The founder Yang Yi, cooperating with other related organizations, starts a nonprofit city reading activity called “Clessence is everywhere”. The mentioned cozy corner, the first reading space for citizens, showed up in Guanyinqiao Station of Line 3 recently. “It may looks like a performance art. It realized its goal if it attracts your attention and you think about reading.”

Site: A cozy corner in the rushed Line 3 station

As the first work of the nonprofit city reading activity called “Clessence is everywhere” to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Clessence Bookstore, the space in Guanyinqiao Station is called By Chance. If you go to take Line 3 from Entrance 4 and Entrance 5, you can see the corner in front of you after entering the railway by swiping the card. 

By Chance is a cube covered with a tire of irregular mirror surface which is so bright that you can see yourself in it. Through a little narrow door, a comfortable and cozy sense is coming as if it is isolated away from hurry in the railway station. Turn back and sit on the soft chair, and you can choose a book on the shelf on the left. 

Shelf: You can read these good books here. 

The reporter noticed that there are about 50 books in the space. All books are chosen by Yang Yi. “Books in the nonprofit city reading activity are easily accepted by the common people and these must also be good books at the same time.” Accepting the interview of the reporter, Yang Yi said that these books are greatly helpful to cultivate competence of everyone. 

“For this reason, I chose some classics easily accepted by the public instead of entertainment or fast-food type books. It covers humanity, art, science, finance and economics and so on.” Yang Yi hopes that these books can play a role of window guidance.

Interestingly, Yang Yi also mentioned that the reading space will exit only for 3 months. “During this period, we don’t know whether these books will be lost or not. If lost, we will add it.” Yang Yi said that it only appeals to take care by ourselves. 

Original intention: Hope performance art attract your attention on reading. 

As an important activity to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Clessence Bookstore, the founder Yang Yi naturally has his own ideas and understandings about this nonprofit city reading activity called “Clessence is everywhere”. Yang Yi said that 3 space rooms are ready for this activity. Except “By Chance” in Guanyinqia, another one called “Habitat for Mind and Gas Station for Spirit” will show in Chongqing Grand Theatre soon. Seeing the design drawing in advance, the reporter noticed that the space is an Archimedean solid (consisting of hexagons and squares), which looks like a football and space craft. 

The third one, called “Room for reading and farming in sunny and rainy days”, will show in a shopping mall in Nanping. It looks like the shape of bamboo shoots in spring and is waved by bamboo. (Translated by Chen Dandan, Fathom Language Limited)