Dionysus Books in Sai Kung old town
Tucked away in the alleyways of Sai Kung old town is a hidden gem of a bookshop. Dionysus Books was originally opened by Stefanie and Samuel Chung in 2021. They have recently opened an extension which will sell English language book. BUZZ went along to take a look and talk to Stephanie.
Stephanie told BUZZ “We opened a bookstore in Sai Kung because my husband, Samuel, is a native resident of Sai Kung, and we also live nearby. Another very important reason was the rent. Ground floor shops in Sai Kung have lower rents than in the city centre.
Samuel and Stefanie
“We had no experience running a bookstore, or even much experience in publishing. I had just quit a job I was unhappy with, and then we stumbled upon this suitable location. Because of my love of reading, we decided to open a bookstore almost without hesitation. Initially, we planned to open a secondhand bookstore, but we couldn’t find a suitable source of secondhand books. I started thinking, why not just sell the books we like? This meant we could freely choose any new books on the market, which could convey the messages we wanted to share with those who, after all the changes they’ve experienced over the years, have chosen to stay in Hong Kong.
“We opened the original Chinese language bookshop （We call it the front shop ever since we finally break through the back area for English language books) on 4 April 2021. For the past four years, while we primarily sold new books, we also set aside a section for selling used books in both Chinese and English. For some reason, we were prohibited from using the back of the bookstore as a shop, so that area became a used book warehouse. Due to the large number of donated books we’ve received over the years and the limited display space, we couldn’t display them all. Once the rent issue was resolved, we immediately began renovations this September.
“As I mentioned earlier, all the secondhand books came from donations. I think we were able to acquire such a large number of books because many people moved away from the city. After opening the new English section, we did consider selling more new books in the future. However, given our unfamiliarity with the overseas book market and the very high cost of importing English books, not to mention that people can buy books at much lower prices on Amazon, our current focus is on sourcing English books published by local publishers”.
BUZZ was amazed to find many classic literature books, as well as modern and science fiction tomes, along with many non-fiction titles; and all for less that $100. Most were in nearly new condition and didn’t look second hand at all.
Dionysus Books is at G/F 17 Sai Kung Tai Street, Sai Kung Tel: 5110 4130 Email: dionybooks@gmail.com. Opening hours: 1:00 – 8:00pm, closed on Tuesdays
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