China Books

China Books is a niche business that you have to be really looking for to find!
Upstairs off Swanston St, they have a diverse product offering, all relating to China somehow. From language books to culture, health, history, food and religion in English, Cantonese and Mandarin, it’s rare to just pop in and out — something always catches my eye to browse through.
I rarely leave without picking up a copy of Chinese Vogue which I find fascinating to see the way in which the Chinese interpret the latest collections and how advertising is presented to the Chinese market.
China Books also sell a wide range of Chinese Herbs and acupuncture equipment. Black Pearl and China Med herbs can be picked up for much less than they retail for at most acupuncture clinics.

China Books is a well-​hidden gem in the middle of the city which is full of multilingual books and other Chinese learning material. I stumbled upon it one day during my hunt to find the entire collection of Journey To The West and I was glad to see they had many versions on offer. Thanks to some helpful advise from the sales lady I found out that some are either poorly translated or are abridged versions. The edition I bought was a translation of the entire, original content and also includes helpful notes. While I was there I also discovered they stock many traditional Chinese medicines, herbs and acupuncture things. I don’t know how their prices fair in this department, but as for their books i must admit they’re reasonably priced, especially considering they have things that can be hard to get your hands on.