Man on the Street is a regular series where we talk to someone doing an everyday job, in order to gain insight into the lives of normal Chinese people.
Less than a decade ago, when Nokia cell phones were still prevalent, newspapers, magazines and books took up a relatively large share of the public’s reading material. As portable electronic devices developed increasingly large screens and more diverse functions, however, printed media started going downhill. This affected not just big publishing companies but small operations like the baokanting, China’s ubiquitous newsstands.
You probably walk by these kiosks tens of times a day without noticing. In the 2000s, students would stop to buy Duzhe, a leading Chinese biweekly magazine, while their parents would pick up a newspaper en route to work. “I sold many Duzhe and Qingnian Wenzhai (literally ‘youth’s digest’) five or six years ago. Now, these two still sell, only the number has dropped to a miserable extent,” says Ding Wenhui, who runs one such kiosk in Dongshankou.
The truth of his words is clearly evident. Others similarly employed around Donghshankou are so disheartened – or perhaps just apathetic – that they are dozing off. “I have nothing to say. Business is bad. Go talk to someone else,” says one of the brusque middle-aged men we approach before Ding, waving us away from his hut so he can return to his siesta.
Luckily, Ding, who is preparing to close due to the drizzle, is more amenable. “It’s been raining constantly. Who wants to buy from us? Our business is bad on rainy days.”
Frankly, it doesn’t sound like business is good on sunny days either. When Ding first started running his out-of-the-way stand six years ago, he could make RMB4,000 per month. Now, he makes half that, weather permitting. “It would be very nice if I could charge passersby for directions,” he jokes, stressing that most people talk to him for orientation purposes, not to buy his wares.
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Ding rents his stall from the Yuexiu District government at a price he refuses to disclose. “I don't have the mood to run it anymore,” he remarks plaintively while putting away a foldable bench on which he reclines in the afternoon. “Newspaper stands in other countries can sell anything. They can make a living out of it.”
Last March, Bai Yansong, a famous CCTV anchorman and member of the national committee of the CPPCC, proposed to upgrade kiosks throughout China, in order to reinvent these newsagents and allow them to keep making a passable living. These ideas don’t seem to have gained much momentum.
“We haven’t heard anything about upgrading from the government,” says Ding, adding, “I used to sell SIM cards, but that’s banned now.” Four years ago, advertisements comprised half of his earnings. “Now, the majority of my profit comes from selling beverages,” he says, as only renovation companies have any interest in pasting ads on his newsstand.
Pulling down the plastic front cover of the booth, then washing his face
from a bucket of water, Ding locks up the two side doors and calls it a
day.
THE DIRTY DETAILS
Monthly salary: RMB2,000
Days per week: 7
Hours per day: 8
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