Cultural creative products designed with local features, such as postcards, notebooks and fridge magnets that draw inspiration from the local ethnic feline talisman the wa mao, have been particularly popular in the bookshop's first weeks of business.

Qian says that worries about COVID-19 have given him many nights sleepless. In fact it has been the darkest period he has lived through since he founded Librairie Avant-Garde 24 years ago, he says. Three branches remain temporarily closed.

Before the bookshop opened on May 1, Qian arrived in Shaxi. In order to catch the moment of twilight with his lens when the first blue rays shone through the glass on the bookshop's roof, he got up at 5 am on two consecutive mornings. When he walked along the Heihui River in darkness he felt calm, he says, because the sun's rays would soon light up his day.

"Many visitors, particularly those who run guesthouses in Shaxi, have told me that the new bookshop offers them hope," Qian says.

"At times like this you need to be brave and not shrink back but face the storm. Only in standing firm can you hope to win."