Beijing's Sanlian Bookstore has become the mainland's first 24-hour establishment of its kind this year.[Photo by Zou Hong/China Daily]

Surely, 2014 has marked a new chapter in China's literary scene. Xing Yi reports.

New pages were added to the story of Chinese literary development this year.

Beijing's Sanlian Bookstore became the first 24-hour establishment of its kind on April 23, the 19th World Book Day, prompting Premier Li Keqiang to call it a "spiritual landmark" in a letter to its staff. About a dozen stores followed suit in such cities as Guangdong's provincial capital Guangzhou, Shaanxi's provincial capital Xi'an and Chongqing municipality.

Bookstores also began reconfiguring their marketing to go beyond merely selling books to becoming spaces for lectures and events.