Xiaorenshu and notebooks resembling passports. Photo: Zhao Dan/GT

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The ubiquitous Xinhua Bookstores are almost identical wherever you go, but the one in Zhujiajiao offers bookworms something a little different.

With few actual books, the store (368 Beida Street 北大街368號, 5924-0359) appears rather empty, but it has an attractive interior consisting of wooden benches and a central desk – a look that is reminiscent of a school classroom from the last century.

The store sells examples of lianhuanhua, small books featuring a series of often-told tales. Also called xiaorenshu, or "kids' books," they mostly tell stories concerning Chinese four-character idioms or household historical tales. A generation ago, these stories were popularly told by parents to send their children off to sleep.

Typically each page has a single picture and a sentence below it to illustrate the ongoing story.

These books today are becoming collectors' items. Some old, string-bound books are displayed on shelves at the back of the shop, inviting readers back in time to relive the adventures of the ancient dynasties.

This retro mood is continued at iMatch & Paradise (284 Beida Street 北大街284號), a store selling matchboxes with interesting covers, many depicting events and slogans from the Cultural Revolution (1966–76).

One design depicts an image of current US President Barack Obama, while several others illustrate modern Peking Operas. Notebooks resembling passports from various countries are also on sale, together with a Russian-language version of late Chairman Mao Zedong's Little Red Book of quotations.

On the opposite side of the road is a similar store with vintage-style goods that hark back to the 1960s and 1970s. A jungle-green bag is emblazoned with the slogan – wei renmin fuwu (serve the people), and features an image of Donald Duck in the place of Chairman Mao.