BEIJING: A placid, cozy environment fostering focused thinking and unwavering concentration－on books. That’s what study lounges are. Ideal for students with limited options as after-school study spaces, because home is a hassle, libraries are full, coffee shops rather costly, 24-hour eateries full of distracting chatter. Ideal, too, for younger professionals preparing for higher-level exams to further their career or enhance their knowledge. And all for a relatively small fee.
Yet this innovative concept, which led to the mushrooming of study lounges in Beijing and other Chinese cities in the past couple of years, could become an “unlucky” sector of sharing economy, as the novel coronavirus outbreak pressed the pause button on startups.
Study lounge is an imported business model pioneered by the Republic of Korea and Japan. Quite a few study lounge operators in China have said they learned what a study lounge is from a Korean TV drama Reply 1988. In fact, several study lounges in Chinese cities have been named”1988”.
The demand for study lounges rose in China, because students can hardly find a tranquil place to study after finishing college. It’s hard for them to find a place in a university even if they manage to enter the campus. There are relatively few public libraries even in big cities. And even students on the campus need a peaceful place to focus on studies.
Before 2018, there were few study lounges in China, and that too mainly in some first-and second-tier cities such as Guangzhou, Suzhou and Tianjin. In Beijing, the first study lounge opened in 2018.
– The Daily Mail-China Daily News exchange item
