Liu Xiaokai, director of the printing and distribution division at the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, said a year ago that the number of venues for selling books had increased in each of the three previous years.

In Beijing alone 126 bookshops opened last year. The municipal government says it invested 50 million yuan to support offline bookshops during the year and will increase that to 106 million this year, including adding more 24-hour bookstores.

A survey by Tencent News shows 8.7 percent of people think 24-hour bookstores are part of the night economy, while 4.3 percent believe it should be overnight cinemas.

Last month a measure to increase night-time spending was launched.

"The night is young and midnight reading life is so beautiful," says Yang Junkang, with the Beijing Reading Season and who has also co-compiled a guide book of the city's bookshops.