Barbara Theroux didn't quite know what to expect when she and nine other booksellers walked into a room of their Chinese counterparts on a recent trip to China. But it didn't take long for the group to realize fervor for books looks the same in any language.

"They sensed right away that we had a passion for bookselling," Theroux, owner and manager of Missoula independent bookstore Fact & Fiction, said about their interpreter, who had trouble keeping up with the excited exchanges.

The meeting with the China Private Book Industry Committee was the first stop on a People to People Book Industry Tour to Beijing and Xi'an, China, led by Theroux in September.

The organization, founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, offers ambassador programs that provide students and professionals with cultural interactions through international travel in order to promote world peace.

Russ Lawrence, owner of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, was originally tapped to lead the delegates and their guests through China's biggest city and the village of Xi'an. Theroux said Lawrence had been working with People to People to determine if the book industry might be a professional area in which to expand their programs.

Lawrence, who is past president of the American Booksellers Association, and his partner Jean Matthews had also applied to the Peace Corps, and when an opportunity arose for them to work in Peru starting in June, they took it, paving the way for Theroux to step up as leader.

Theroux's group consisted of nine delegates representing seven stores from across the United States and four of their guests. Most of the group remarked that getting to know the Chinese delegates during the first professional meeting was the highlight of the trip.

"We were all nervous and formal, wondering if we could answer their questions," Theroux said.

After realizing their 11 Chinese counterparts - which included authors, publishers, book industry committee members, book industry media and booksellers - had taken a more casual and informal approach, trading sport coats for jeans, everyone started to relax.

"Right away we knew we were among friends and like-minded souls," Theroux wrote in an article she prepared for the American Booksellers Association online periodical Bookselling This Week.

Delegate Sarah Goddin, general manager at Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh, N.C., was intrigued to find out how much she had in common with the Chinese group.

"We all have competition between independent stores and chain stores and from Internet merchants, and problems with the economic situation," she said. "Beyond that, we all share a love of good books and the passion to keep trying despite the difficulties."

The two groups of delegates spent the afternoon together, sharing program ideas and book industry concerns. In the evening, Theroux and the group were surprised when Yao Dan Qian, CEO of DangDang.com - the Chinese Amazon - took everyone to dinner.

The trip's agenda included cultural visits to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. On the list of professional activities, the group visited two bookstores in Beijing and a bookstore and school in the village of Xi'an.

Theroux said two of the stores were part of small chains of 10 to 13, and the third store was an academic bookstore. Two of the stores had coffee bars, and she said the Chinese were interested to learn that a conference room they met in was about the size of one of the bookstores represented by the American delegates.

The stores themselves, Theroux said, helped raise questions about advertising and promotion, book production and how to reach readers.

The American booksellers were excited to discover new ideas to implement in their stores. Theroux said two of the stores created their own blank books with sketches as a way to promote their books. She also brought back a packet of postcards with reproduced artwork stamped with book coupons on the back.

Mary Gay Shipley, owner of That Bookstore in Blytheville in Blytheville, Ark., said she liked the belly bands one store used to wrap their books.

"That is something I want to try, as it seems to use less paper than our sacks," she said.

At one of the stores, The All Sages Bookshop, Goddin noticed a strong commitment to carrying only the best books.

"It had made itself a real destination store by sticking to that philosophy," she said. "Beyond that, I thought we could learn a lot from Chinese merchants of all types, not just books, about how to sell things."

Theroux said she gained a unique perspective because the Chinese government controls a lot of the bookselling. ISBN numbers are controlled by the government and half of the publishing companies are state-owned.

"The country has made a huge leap toward capitalism and are encouraging people to make money, but they still hold on to the old socialism in some ways," said delegate Nancy Olson, also with Quail Ridge. "While we do have some shared concerns, we don't have to compete with state-owned bookstores as they do."

A common concern between both groups of delegates was declining readership due to technological advances such as the Kindle.

"I think they learned, as we did, that we have more in common than they might have expected and that we could possibly help each other by sharing strategies for dealing with similar problems," Goddin said.

She added that another benefit of the trip is that now she can read and recommend Chinese writers to her customers with a little more authority. She is planning to expand her store's collection of Asian writing and programming, and along with Olson is exploring the idea of working with friends to organize a literary tour to China in the future.

In addition to bringing back some of the Chinese booksellers' marketing strategies to use at Fact & Fiction, Theroux said the trip opened her eyes to the importance of crossing borders during a time when technology is taking on a global significance.

"It's important to take a step outside your comfort zone," she said.

Elizabeth L. Harrison is a Missoula freelance writer and University of Montana journalism student.