Chinese Name: 郭怡美書店
Year of Establishment: 2022
Address: No. 129, Sec. 1, Dihua St., Datong Dist., Taipei City
Open Hours: 12:00-20:00 (Monday to Friday); 11:00-22:00 (Saturday, Sunday, and national holidays)
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087042986727
Did You Know That…?
As a century-old historical building, Kuo’s Astral Bookshop is in the traditional Taiwanese style of long, connected rows, each having a storefront with living quarters in the back. Its interior arrangement and unique exterior design belong to the Hoklo architectural characteristics from the era of the Qing Dynasty.
Kuo’s Astral Bookshop, open in November 2022, is located on Dihua Street (迪化街) in the area of Dadaocheng (大稻埕), an important trading port in the 19th century and a major historical tourist attraction nowadays in Taipei. The bookshop was formerly Kuo Yi-mei Store (郭怡美商行) established by businessman Kuo Wu-long (郭烏隆) about a hundred years ago during the period of Japanese rule. Built in 1922, Kuo Yi-mei Store was a grocery store in early Japanese rule Dadaocheng. The store sold dry goods and food products, and its owner Kuo Wu-long was one of the three most influential figures at that time in Dadaocheng.
During the mid-to-late periods of the Japanese occupation, the store, together with Chuang Yi-fang Store (莊義芳商行) and Iwatai Store (怡和泰商行), played a leading role in determining the market price of mung beans and grains. Kuo Yi-mei Store established itself as a dominant business, witnessing the economic development in Taiwan. The store’s façade and sign have been well-preserved so far. The red brick, three-story Western building has an exquisitely designed façade, decorated with intricate stucco ornaments, including elements of flowers and plants. This kind of façade was quite common in the 1920s.
Kuo Chung-hsing, a veteran publisher, is the proprietor of Kuo’s Astral Bookshop. He has deep ties with the historical building. A century ago, his grandfather Kuo Wu-long started his business at this building. However, due to the next generation’s poor management, the Kuo Yi-mei Store and Kuo’s mansion were sold, culminating in the Kuo family leaving Dadaocheng. When Kuo Chung-hsing was 73 years old, he came back to the building, opening a bookstore to extend the building’s life. Kuo has been engaged in publishing for nearly 40 years. He is the founder of the Owl Publishing House and Book Republic Publishing Group which publish influential books every year. In 2017, he was recognized by the Golden Tripod Award, the highest honor in Taiwan’s publishing industry.
To retell the story of the Kuo’s house and represent the cultural vibe of Dadaocheng, the Kuo’s Astral Bookshop has preserved the original appearance of the Kuo Yi-mei Store while adopting some modern architectural designs in its interior. In the stair areas leading to the second and third floors, visitors can see the bricks and tiles that were specially preserved during the renovation work. These preserved architectural elements create a time tunnel connecting the past and present. Linking the front and rear spaces in the house, an iron ladder has been constructed on the patio to connect the warehouse behind the building with the front building and the duplex.
Books about Taiwanese culture and the history of Dadaocheng are displayed on the first floor of the bookstore, attracting curious visitors to enter the shop. On the second floor is the world literature section. Visitors can sit and read in the tatami seating area by the window, enjoying the natural light that shines in the afternoon. The third floor has a larger space, providing people with a private room to read poetry. In this revitalized bookstore, in addition to reading books, activities such as lectures, art exhibitions, film seminars, poetry readings, and small concerts can also be held.