China's major online bookstore Dangdang.com has opened a brick-and-mortar book outlet inside a shopping mall in the Laiyang district of Yantai, which is the first of its kind in East China's Shandong province. [Photo/jiaodong.net]

China's major online bookstore Dangdang.com has opened a brick-and-mortar book outlet in Yantai, which is the first of its kind in East China's Shandong province.

Piled with approximately 100,000 books, the Dangdang Yuejie Bookstore occupies 3,000 square meters covering two floors at a shopping mall in the Laishan district. It is divided into a library section, a section for salons, and several reading sections.

The Dangdang Yuejie Bookstore offers books at the same prices as its online store while readers with membership can enjoys extra discount.

Based on big data, the bookstore aims to create a brand new reading space that is both engaging and entertaining for local residents in Yantai.

On the first floor of the bookstore, readers will find a recommended reading topic every month, a best-seller list composed by Dangdang.com and a best-seller list based on data collected in Yantai.

As for different age groups, the bookstore has set up sections for parent-child reading and youth reading, to provide specialized cultural products.

Along with the steps leading to the second floor is a wall measuring eight meters wide and 10 meters tall, lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Readers can flip through the books within their arm's reach while the ones beyond their arms reach are merely for exhibition purposes, according to the bookstore manager Yuan Jiawei.