诚品书店改变香港书业格局?

At first glance, Hong Kong seems an enviable hub for bibliophiles: It's home to a buzzing book fair, a well-regarded literary festival, two creative-writing programs and Asia's most prestigious literary prize. But in terms of bookstores, it has so far lagged behind other Asian cities such as Tokyo, Taipei and even Bangkok.

乍一看来，香港似乎是一个令人羡慕的爱书人的乐园。它是一个热闹非凡的图书展和一个备受推崇的文学节的举办地，它还拥有两个创意写作项目和亚洲最具声望的文学奖。但是，在书店方面，迄今为止它还落后于东京、台北甚至曼谷等其他亚洲城市。

That may be about to change with the arrival of Eslite, a Taiwanese bookstore chain famous not only for an extensive collection of books but also in-house art galleries, cultural events, designer products and cafés.

随着诚品书店登陆香港，这个状况或许即将发生改变。这家来自台湾的连锁书店不仅以广泛多样的书籍闻名，其自有画廊、文化活动、名家设计产品和咖啡厅也同样为人所知。

On Saturday, Eslite opens in Hysan Place, a mall in Hong Kong's Causeway Bay district. The three-story shop will stretch to 41,000 square feet, making it the city's largest bookstore, and will stock some 100,000 titles that readers can browse and buy seven days a week. On Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, the store will be open 24 hours a day─perfect for night owls in a city that doesn't sleep.

8月11日，诚品书店在香港铜锣湾希慎广场开业。这家店有三层，面积达41,000平方英尺（约3,800平方米），成为香港最大的书店。该店每周七天营业，备有约100,000本书供读者浏览购买。此外，该店还在每周四、周五和周六全天24小时营业，对于香港这个不眠之城的夜猫子来说真是再美不过了。

Eslite was founded in 1989, the year after Taiwan's military dictatorship lifted a ban on newspapers and magazines, and it went on to become a patron of the island's cultural renaissance. Its 48 branches host more than 3,000 activities a year, including lectures, readings, concerts and art exhibitions.

1989年，也就是台湾的军事独裁政权宣布解除报禁的一年后，诚品书店成立。在这之后，该书店成为了岛内文化复兴活动的赞助者，如今其48家分店每年要举办逾3,000场文化活动，其中包括演讲、读书会、音乐会和展览等。

Founder Robert Wu, who ran a successful catering business before opening the first Eslite on Taipei's Dunhua Road, kept the bookstore afloat for 17 years before it became profitable in 2006. 'Eslite is a cultural phenomenon,' he said in Hong Kong at the Design for Asia Awards last December. 'It's all about the people, the place, the culture.'

在台北的敦化路开设第一家诚品书店之前，吴清友经营着一家成功的餐饮企业。在吴清友维系了17年之后，诚品书店于2006年开始盈利。去年12月，他在香港参加“亚洲最具影响力设计大奖”(Design for Asia Awards)颁奖礼时说，诚品书店是一种文化现象，它的真谛在于人、地域和文化。

Eslite will mark its entry into Hong Kong with two exhibitions and 30 activities over the next month, including sessions with local authors such as cultural critic Ma Ka-fai and a concert with singer-songwriter Chet Lam.

在开业后的一个月内，诚品书店将举办两场展览和30场文化活动来庆祝其进入香港，其间香港一些本土作家，比如文化批评学者马家辉等将主持活动，此外香港本土创作歌手林一峰也将参与音乐演出。

Like its flagship branches in Taiwan, the Hysan Place location will include a music and video boutique, stationery, a teahouse, a coffee shop, an art gallery and an event room. English- and foreign-language books will make up 40% of the selection, compared with 15% at most Taiwan stores.

与其在台湾的旗舰店一样，诚品书店希慎广场店设有一家音乐音像制品店、一家文具店、一家茶室、一家咖啡店、一个画廊以及一间活动室。英文及其他语种的外文书籍将占到所售书籍40%的比例，而台湾大多数分店的这一比例为15%。

Meanwhile, the store's opening has prompted other local bookstores to up their game with renovations and an expanded selection. Commercial Press, Hong Kong's biggest bookstore chain, has retrained staff, renovated its Causeway Bay branch and doubled its selection of English-language books.

同时，该店在香港的开业也促使当地其他书店致力于创新和扩大图书种类来提高竞争力。香港最大的连锁书店商务印书馆已经对员工重新进行培训，重新装修了其在铜锣湾的图书中心，并且将英文书籍的种类扩充了一倍。

Though Eslite's expansion has garnered buzz, some cultural critics are greeting the chain with ambivalence. Au Wai-lin, founder of Hong Kong journal 'C for Culture,' worries about its impact on independent bookstores, which specialize in nonmainstream books and titles banned in mainland China─genres that Eslite has excelled at selling in Taiwan.

虽然诚品书店在香港的扩张引发了阵阵热潮，但是一些文化批评人士在对它表示欢迎的同时也有一些矛盾心理。香港杂志《文化现场》的创办人欧惠莲就对其对独立书店的影响表达了担忧，这些书店专营在中国大陆被禁的非主流书籍，而诚品在台湾就擅长销售这些类型的书。

'It may be an exciting event for many people and most of the media coverage is positive,' says Ms. Au. 'But what I'm concerned about is it's probably [leading to] a crisis of the existing local bookshops.'

欧惠莲说，对许多人而言这或许是一个激动人心的事件，大多数的媒体报道也是正面的，但我担心的是它可能会使本地现有的书店陷入危机。

Others take a rosier view. 'In general I think it's a good thing, because they will be hosting lots of cultural activities, which could help the cultural scene in Hong Kong,' says Daniel Lee, co-owner of Hong Kong Reader, a Mongkok bookstore that holds regular discussions and readings.

其他一些人则持更乐观的观点。香港旺角的序言书室的店主之一李达宁说，总的来说我认为这是一件好事，因为他们会举办很多文化活动，这可能会带动香港的文化局面。该书店也会定期举办一些讨论会和读书会。

'We see more and more people into reading,' he says. 'More people are paying attention to politics and social issues, and when people want to do something about it, they need to read about it first.'

“我们看到越来越多的人喜欢上阅读，”他说，“更多人开始关注政治和社会问题，当人们想做一些这方面的事情时，他们首先需要读一些东西。”