35-year-old bespectacled businessman, moved a wooden signboard from his bookstore in Futian District's Runpeng Garden on the afternoon of Dec. 25, 2006.

After losing money for five years, the businessman decided to close the 300-square-meter Pellucid Lotus Pavilion, which once symbolized his dream of owning a tranquil and purely independent bookstore.

Over a period of five years, Li and his bookstore had provided free lectures on ancient poems to more than 600 children and parenting classes to young couples. Literary and artistic organizations had held events at the store for free.

Three local independent movie clubs had organized more than 500 free film screenings at Li's bookstore since 2004. By paying 10 yuan (US$1.3) per person, attendees could watch two classic or avant garde movies there, with a soft drink thrown in for good measure.

Collecting books is one of Li's hobbies. Sometimes, he distributed his books to readers with similar interests. "I would like to share books with those brought together by the fate," said Li, who professes to being a follower of Buddhism. He added that he believed selling a cherished book to a close friend was wrong.

Thousands of young people interested in literature benefited from Li's bookstores. However, the cultural symbol was forced to close last year because of losses.

Fan Ling, a member of the Shenzhen Indie Movie Club, recorded the demolition of the store using a DV camera and showed it to the public April 23, when the city marked the World Book and Copyright Day with hundreds of monthlong book-related activities.

Titled "A Place With Blooming Lotus," Fan became emotional as she described the time she spent in the bookstore.

However, a question that both Li and Fan failed to answer is how an independent bookstore can expect to survive longer in a profit-oriented market.

One of the organizers of the Shenzhen Movie Club, who identified himself as Luonaldo, said he had foreseen the closure of Pellucid Lotus Pavilion.

Founded in 2002, the club failed to find a suitable place for movie salons and events until March 2004.

"Li provided us a mini movie theater in his bookstore, and purchased a color projector and screen for movie events," said Luonaldo. Without paying a penny, the club held some 227 movie salons every Saturday night until Dec. 23, 2006, two days before the bookstore closed.

Luonaldo said he admired the way Li fought to keep the bookstore open. But Luonaldo and other members of the club said they never gave any money to Li.

One of the two cashiers from the bookstore, surnamed Chen, said she was depressed seeing the store stay in the red throughout its five-year existence.

"Every beneficiary said the bookstore is welfare to the city, but most of them enjoy free reading or salon here without contribution," she said.

Chen said the bookstore never made money either through selling books or holding various salons or lectures, while it continued to pay rent, salaries and bills.

Other booksellers estimate the cost of operating a 300-square-meter bookstore in central Futian District is between 1.5 and 3 million yuan a year.

Li, who has a finance degree, said he did not have business partner: "I would like to keep it simple and tranquil as its name, Pellucid Lotus. Any intervener could cost my dream."

Li opened the bookstore after he found that there was nowhere he could meet up with his literary-minded friends.

One of the five voluntary lecturers on ancient poems at the bookstore believed Li's business methods brought about its demise. She said Li refused to organize business salons and readers could never find bestsellers there because "that's too commercial."

Some bookhunters, who had been to the store before, said books and movies in Li's store were too specialized for the general public.

"I joined its Saturday movie night once two years ago," said a reader surnamed Chen. "The hour-long black-and-white dumb movie was produced in the 1930s and drowsy." She believed bookstores have to maintain a balance between independent and commercial to survive.

Li admitted he had never thought about making money through the bookstore, and therefore offered the venue to cultural organizations for free.

An Xiang, a movie club member, said users should consider having a fund to maintain a cultural venue.

After three months of searching, the club found another venue at Central Book City. However, the organizers are not sure how long this will last.

Xiao Yu, the owner of Material Life, another reputed independent bookstore, said profits were low.

"Some people may just come for a free reading, that's what you can't control. The revenue from per square meter is generally lower than other business," she said.

Xiao used to be a late night talk show DJ for a local radio station, and had a chance to meet notable people in the literary circle. This enabled her to organize various salons, independent movie festivals, wine tastings and other events at her store. Celebrity scholars and writers including Zhang Wuchang, Zhou Guoping and Long Yingtai have held salons there.

The bookstore requires each salon visitor to spend at least 30 yuan in its mini caf¨¦. "We offer light meal and beverage for readers every day, which also attract students and white collars during lunch time."

Compared to Li's low-profile bookstore, Xiao promotes her bookstore through local newspapers and Web sites.

"We don't want a tranquil bookstore, contrarily, a pinup one with high sales is what we are looking for," she said.

Neither Pellucid Lotus Pavilion nor Material Life received any financial assistance from the city's cultural authorities, although the municipal government listed the cultural industry as its fourth pillar industry in 2005.

While the government has set up a special fund to boost the cultural industry and plans to invest some 300 million yuan between 2006 and 2010, private bookstores will be the last to benefit.

Chen Wei, director of the municipal cultural bureau, said 5 billion yuan has been used to construct some 30 city-level museums, public libraries, galleries and a concert hall during the past few years.

According to the city's cultural bureau, Shenzhen now has 19 museums, 58 cultural halls, 520 public libraries and 160 public cultural venues. Most of these have been open free to the public since March 1.

"The authorities expected that the annual output from the cultural industry can reach 10 percent of the city's GDP in 2010," said a Chinese literature professor from Shenzhen University who declined to reveal his name. "I hope more independent bookstores to come out at that time, as those in Beijing and Shanghai."

Editor: Wing