Chongqing- If you think it’s weird or useless to build a library in an expressway service area, the Lengshui Valley of the Wind Vacationing Camp begs to differ.
The Lengshui Forest Book House is situated at the Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway Lengshui Service Area.
As a beehive-shaped hexagonal building right in the middle of expressways and lush woods, with white-colored external structures and modern-looking glass walls wrapping up the winding staircases and piles of various books, the Lengshui Forest Book House was jointly built by the Chongqing Library and the Chongqing Expressway Land Renovation Co., Ltd.
It was officially unveiled at the Lengshui Valley of the Wind Vacationing Camp near the Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway Lengshui Service Area on Nov. 1, 2020, claiming the title of first expressway service area library both in Chongqing and in China.
Officials pose for a group photo during an opening ceremony of the Lengshui Forest Book House.
The move is the latest of Chongqing Expressway Group to build libraries in its recreational vehicle camps and available expressway services areas, in a bid to further integrate the coordinated development of the city’s transport and tourism industries. A whole new form of business operation for expressway tourism is expected to mature in the process of building the “Fast Moving, Slow Tour” development pattern.
Wan Weiping, marketing manager of the Lengshui Valley of the Wind Vacationing Camp, said that “the camp, situated at an average altitude of 1,443 meters above sea level, enjoys the honors of being “China’s No. 1 Expressway Self-Drive Tour Camp,” and the “2nd Chongqing Culture and Tourism New Landmark.” It’s currently also mulling the possibilities of including more parent-child tour options by blending the book house's features and the camp.
The beehive-shaped hexagonal bookshelf is filled with various kinds of books.
The book house covers an area of 543 square meters. It boasts a two-floored main structure and an open-air attic, with special areas dedicated to reading books, drinking coffees, listening to CDs, and performing tea ceremonies. It has a collection of nearly ten thousand books, with genres ranging from philosophy, children's books to business. Drivers and passengers can truly relax here after a long drive on the road and appreciate the beauty of primitivity and modernity at the same time.
Next, the Lengshui Valley of the Wind Vacationing Camp will expand its size to accommodate for a brand-new theme park, a graffiti street, and a children's palace in the years to come, according to Wan.