Mao Bookstore - A Place to Keep Beautiful Memories

Hello everyone, how are you today?
This is my first time posting in #fridaymarket. Thank you so much @dswigle for creating this amazing community, and thanks to @tattoodjay's posts on this community for inspiring me. Today I would like to introduce an antique bookstore in Hanoi. Established in 1974, the Mao bookstore has become a place to keep memories of generations of students and book lovers.

First let me give a brief introduction to the long history of this bookstore. According to its official website, nhasachmao, the Mao bookstore is located on the 2nd floor of the dormitory at 5 Dinh Le street, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi, it is about 200m2 wide. Mao Bookstore is considered a "book mecca" of Hanoians who love books for more than 20 years. But few people know that Mao bookstore was originally just a "tiny book table" sold by Mr. Luy and Mrs. Mao at the sidewalk of the Post Office (Dinh Tien Hoang - Dinh Le junction) in the 90s. After 3 years of selling books on the sidewalk, they bought a small space on the second floor of the dormitory at 5 Dinh Le. With a passion for books, they researched and self-published many exclusive book publications, and their most famous book is "ALMANACH - World Civilizations". Since then, they have had more money to buy neighboring rooms for book sales and living. Witnessing their bookstore expansion, many others also opened other sidewalk bookstores here, making Dinh Le the busiest "night book street" in Hanoi. Around the years 2000 - 2001, the city opened a campaign to clean the "night book street" sidewalk. Not allowed to sell books on the sidewalk, they started renting shops to sell - Dinh Le Book Street was born here. From the small attic of Mr. and Mrs. Mao, Dinh Le Street has now become the "Book Street" of the capital, and now Dinh Le is known as a paradise in the minds of book lovers. It's a place where "bookworms" can spend their whole day off "rolling" from one shelf to another in the hope of finding a book they like. Mr. and Mrs. Mao, the owners of this most famous private bookstore in Hanoi, are considered to be the pioneers of the book-selling profession here. For more than 20 years, the Mao Bookstore has always been a "mecca" for book lovers everywhere, they are the keepers of the "fire" for reading culture. Today because of old age and weakness, the operation of the store has been passed on to their descendants.

With economic development, the surrounding area has become crowded with high-rise buildings and densely populated. To get to Mao bookstore, go to 5 Dinh Le street, you will see a small and dark alley which leads you into a dormitory. When I arrived here, I was a bit skeptical if I had come to the right place because I didn't believe such a famous bookstore would be located in such an old and cramped dormitory. Until I saw the sign of Mao bookstore, I was relieved. The road leading to Mao bookstore is a narrow and dark alley, to get to the bookstore, you also have to go up an old staircase with many traces of time. I could even smell the moss and mold of the faded walls. However, unlike the bustling street outside, the space of the dormitory is strangely quiet. There, time seemed to slow down. I felt like I had entered another world. And the narrow and dark alley was like a bridge between those two worlds. One world is modern, busy and bustling and the other is slow, nostalgic and peaceful.

Finally, Mao bookstore is here. My impression of it is that it's a small bookshop that has been painted light blue on the outside and it's faded as well. However, after gently putting my shoes on the shelf and going inside, a world of books appeared before my eyes. The large space inside was filled with books. The shelves were packed with books, books were also neatly stacked on the floor and on the stairs leading upstairs, books everywhere. I'm sure you can find your favorite book there. You can find a lot of books on different topics, for different ages, even books published many years ago and written in different languages ​​are also found there. The books there are organized into different areas so that book lovers can easily find their favorite books. The bookstore also offers reading spaces such as a library for those who want to stay and read for free.

It's been a long time since I smelled the smell of books overflowing like this. Maybe the last time I went into a bookstore was when I was in highschool. Bookstores like these have been slowly forgotten in the modern world. Nowadays, people prefer to read books on electronic devices or go to modern libraries. Bookstores like these are slowly turning into memories. However, it is still a place to keep beautiful memories of many people like me. When I was a primary school student, every time my mother took me to the bookstore, I was extremely happy. I considered books to be invaluable assets, I even made covers for new books to protect them from fading and keep them in the safest place. At that time, the bookstore was also a romantic date spot. We didn't have phones like now to communicate with each other. We often lied to our parents to go to the bookstore to see each other. Those are the memories that will never fade in my mind. Nowadays, the younger generation no longer comes to bookstores like this. So sad! But you know what, it's an inevitable part of modern life. Personally, I still keep fond memories of bookstores like this.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read my post, I hope my first post is relevant to this community and have a nice day.