The thriving of the book fair needed a lot of people to categorize, bind and repair books. "Since Hebei Province is very near to Beijing. The convenience of transportation enabled a lot of Hebei people to do their book business as far back as the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)", Guo said. Those who came also brought their friends and relatives from Hebei to run their the businesses. With long-time exposure of strong cultural atmosphere, a lot of them became successful businessmen or experts in bibliology. Although up to 1956, the three biggest bookstores were all run by Heibei people. However, the question of whether Liu li chang was constructed by Hebei people is still under discussion.