Eyes of the GBA 湾区之眼

Eyes of the GBA. Photo by Song Lu

Eyes of the GBA — the world’s largest brick-and-mortar bookstore — is a new-generation cultural complex built by Shenzhen Publishing Group on the Qianhai Bay waterfront. Opened on Sept. 26, 2025 and covering 131,000 square meters, its “Twin Jade Discs” architecture evokes an open book and a pair of eyes gazing at the world. By July 2026 it had received over 7.6 million visits, becoming the city’s cultural reception room.

湾区之眼是全球最大的实体书店，由深圳出版集团在前海湾畔打造的新一代文化综合体。2025年9月26日开业，建筑面积13.1万平方米，“双玉盘”建筑造型形似一本翻开的书，也像一双凝视世界的眼睛。截至2026年7月，累计接待读者超760万人次，已成为深圳的城市文化会客厅。

Where a prime waterfront might have gone to towers, Shenzhen chose culture — a city of speed pausing to read, reflecting Chinese modernization’s balance of material progress and the life of the mind.

寸土寸金的前海湾滨水地段本可建高楼，深圳却选择了文化——一座以速度著称的城市，愿意为阅读停下脚步，折射出中国式现代化对物质进步与精神生活双重追求的平衡。 

UNESCO recognizes Shenzhen as a Global Model for the Promotion of Reading. It offers 7 large cultural complexes, 100 park reading rooms and 1,227 library service points — a 15-minute reading circle — plus China’s first reading legislation and public reading fund, with “You Read, We Pay” and registration-free borrowing. Reading here is a right, not a privilege.

联合国教科文组织授予深圳“全球全民阅读典范城市”称号。深圳拥有7座大型文化综合体、100间公园书房和1227个图书馆服务点，形成“15分钟阅读圈”，并率先出台阅读立法、设立公共阅读基金，推出“你阅读我买单”、免证借阅等举措——在这里，阅读是权利而非特权。

Highlights include South China’s only fore-edge printing machine, the world’s largest Creality 3D-printing flagship store, and the 12-meter Smart Tree with energy-saving thermochromic glass. The 20,000-square-metre rooftop Starry Sky Garden hosted the 26th Reading Month launch and a Guinness record of 492 people writing Spring Festival couplets. The 2026 APEC Reading Salon and Silk Road Market, featuring goods from 15 countries, make the bookstore a bridge to the Asia-Pacific.

亮点包括华南唯一的口边印刷机、全球最大的 Creality 3D 打印旗舰店，以及采用节能温控玻璃、高12米的“智慧树”。2万平方米的星空花园举办过第26届读书月启动仪式及492人同写春联的吉尼斯纪录活动。2026年 APEC 阅读沙龙与丝绸之路市集汇集15国商品，使书店成为通往亚太的桥梁。