With arched book shelves and elegant decor like a Chinese ink and wash painting, Duoyun Bookstore officially opened a flagship store on Monday on the 52nd floor of the Shanghai Tower; 239 meters up the highest building in China.

(Duoyun Bookstore in the Shanghai Tower)

The store occupies more than 2,200 square meters and offers readers more than 16,000 books, including 1,150 foreign titles and more than 100 foreign journals.

It is so popular that some bookworms have to line up for up to four hours to get in, with only 350 allowed inside at any time.

“The bookstore offers a good view of the city stretching wide below. It’s wonderful to read in such a beautiful and fantastic environment,” a reader said.

The highest bookstore in Shanghai has also attracted John Howe, the Canadian illustrator of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the German writer and philosopher Wolfram Eilenberger, and Chinese authors Yu Hua and Bi Feiyu.

Wolfram Eilenberger praised the strict selection of the books, “There’s a saying in Germany that if you want to have a look at the future, come to China. I think it makes sense.”

The London Review Bookshop, one of the top-ten bookstores in the world, also has a display of about 300 newly-published English books.

“The bookstore’s height is impressive not only in a physical way. Readers here can also be impressed with the highly developed culture in Shanghai,” said Wang Lan, president of the Shanghai Century Publishing Company. He thinks an international city needs a characteristic place for reading and Duoyun Bookstore in the Shanghai Tower will become an ideal spiritual homeland for enthusiastic readers.