Some unique bookstores continue booming (繁荣) across the globe. For travelers, they pack in plenty of beauty, strange character, and local history within their walls.

Shakespeare & Co., Paris, French

Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and their literary contemporaries famously hung out at this bookstore overlooking the Seine. Shakespeare & Co. attracts countless tourists and foreigners. Writers can even stay here for a few days or weeks, in exchange for a couple of hours’ worth of work around the shop. The celebrated bookstore hosts book readings, writers' meetings, and Sunday tea.

Power House Arena, Brooklyn, America

Power House Arena opened in DUMBO in 2006 and bills itself as a “laboratory for creative thought”. The industrial, modern space is dedicated not only to books, but also to hosting a variety of events—readings, book launch parties, temporary art exhibits and conversations with contemporary literary voices in its amphitheater-style (圆形剧场风格) seating space with soaring 24-foot ceilings. Children’s literature fill the shelves.

Libreria Acqua Alta, Venice, Italy

This bookstore features classic volumes of American and Italian books packed in traditional Venetian boats. But the show-stopping attraction is the back of the bookstore, which opens up to a beautiful canal. The bookstore is also famous for its wide-ranging art and postcard collections.

Barter Books, Alnwick, England

Housed in an old railway station, Barter Books has a pleasant living room atmosphere, thanks to carpets, crackling fireplaces in the winter, toys for kids, a model railway acting as a link between the book columns of the central room, and comfortable seats among a vast selection of second-hand books on a variety of subjects.

Inspired by his mentor Louis Sullivan, an influential figure in the world of modernist architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright coined the term ‘organic architecture’ around 1908.

Rather than imitating nature or organic elements within the natural world, organic architecture is more concerned with re-interpretation of nature and harmony between the organic and the built environment. It ensures that the individual elements within buildings are put together to reflect the order within nature. Here are 4 of the most striking examples.

Casa Milà

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Year of completion:1910

Architect: Antoni Gaudi

Considered the greatest exponent of Catalan Modernism, Antoni Gaudi was devoted to nature and the Catholic religion. While he originally intended this organic building to have a religious purpose, it is now an apartment building. True to the organic style, it features honey shapes that seemingly emerge from the earth.

Learning Hub at Nanyang Technological University (NTU)

Location: Singapore

Year of completion:2015

Architect: Thomas Heatherwick

Earning the nicknames ‘dim sum basket building’ and ‘the Hive’, the Learning Hub consists of 12 eight-storey towers arranged around a public atrium. The organic nature of the building extends to its interior with features like gardens that are intended to encourage social interactions and study among students.

Falling Water

Location: Mill Run, Pennsylvania

Year of completion:1939

Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

A classic of modernism and organic architecture, Falling Water sits on top of a waterfall. Frank Lloyd Wright designed it for the Kaufmann family who-though they had originally hoped for a view of the waterfall-came to love the home.

East Beach Café

Location: Littlehampton, UK

Year of completion:2007

Architect: Thomas Heatherwick

Located in a seaside area with an industrial history, East Beach Cafe resembles (像) a piece of driftwood. Forty meters long, seven meters wide and five meters high, it initially polarised locals, but has since been well-received by the whole community. It was the first building for Thomas Heatherwick who previously was better known as a sculptor.

If you are heading for Paris this year, be sure to include at least one of these shopping malls in your schedule.

Tel: 01133014282

Located near the Paris Opera, this huge store is well-known for household goods as well as its fashion. The store also offers many services to overseas visitors, including shipping, translation and a personal shopping service. Au Printemps, whose name means springtime, hosts several free fashion shows each week. The store’s beauty department has one of the world’s largest selections of perfumes（香水）.

Tel: 01133014283

The Galeries Lafayette was built in 1906. It is as much fun to look at as it is to shop in this 10-storey shopping palace. In fact, the flagship store is the second most visited attraction in Paris, after the Louvre Museum. This shopping palace specializes in women’s clothing. Make sure to take in the view from the tea shop on the top floor; it’s well worth the visit.

Tel: 01133014439

This stylish Left Bank department store was Paris’ first such store. Designed by Gustave Eiffel, Le Bon Marche is particularly known for its food hall, its wedding shops and its selection of modern clothes.

Tel: 01133014476

This modern, underground shopping center was built in 1979. La Forum des Halles, the three-storey-tall shopping center offers everything from souvenirs to haute couture（高级女子时装）to entertainment, such as first-run movies and street performers. The shopping center is attached to the busy La Halle-Chatelet metro station and can be easily reached from all over Paris.