New goal for gender equality

When he heard about Fembooks in Taiwan, which claims to be one of the first bookstores focusing on feminism in China, the idea hit him to likewise open such a bookstore to help people better access, understand and maybe embrace the concept. In late 2022, he quit his job at a State-run theater and prepared to open the bookstore.

Thanks to his friends' help and a space offered for free for one year, his bookstore opened in Longtang Space in downtown Beijing in April last year. It sold over 600 books the first month but only around 200 a month on average afterward.

To make ends meet, Cui moved the bookstore to its current location in the Banbidian No 1 Culture Industrial Park, which offers low rent and a free meeting room.

"My readers helped me a lot to decorate the new store. The manager of the park, who's a woman, supports my idea by offering me a good rental price for the place," Cui says, adding that women have always offered to help manage the bookstore.

Readers sent flowers and cakes to celebrate the bookstore's reopening on March 8, International Women's Day, which made Cui break into tears.

"I hope one day, the bookstore can become a place where people can engage in different discussions in different thinking modes. It is where everyone can express their own voice," Cui says.

The manager, Sun Meng, has offered Cui two months of rent and the salon space for free.

"As a woman, I know how hard it is to balance work and life, and when Cui told me about the bookstore, the idea really caught me. It is not easy for a man to really try to understand women and their concerns," says Sun, who's also a mother.