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Tent of spirit: Upgraded newsstands retained as community service nodes
Tent of spirit
Editor's Note:
Reading is an important avenue for humans to acquire knowledge, expand wisdom and cultivate virtue. It enlightens us and helps us aim high and stand upright.
As China's first national regulations to promote public reading are set to take effect on February 1, the country is entering a new phase for its national reading initiative. The regulations explicitly call for improving reading services for different groups and advancing reading equity through institutional guarantees.
The Global Times has launched a special series to show how reading is changing people's lives. This installment looks inside China's newsstands, which have witnessed the bond between people and communities through reading.
Her newsstand is on a street in Beijing's Chaoyang district, not far from the CBD. Every morning, she opens for business and closes up around 10 pm, a rhythm she has kept for nine years. "My house is a 7-minute walk away. This stand is like a tent for us," Zeng told the Global Times.
As a "tent" for her family's survival, every decision Zeng makes at her business is a careful pull on its ropes - optimizing the publication mix, extending hours and more - all to keep the newsstand steady against the winds of an increasingly digitized reading landscape. But even though her income barely exceeds her rent, Zeng still chooses to keep her tent pitched.
"Running it is our way of life here, especially with the neighbors. I'll keep going as long as we can get by," said Zeng.
Not just for selling
Earlier in January, Zeng renewed the lease on her newsstand for the coming year. What drove her decision was her neighbors' support. Mostly elderly, they have known Zeng for years. When these familiar faces pass by her newsstand on their way to the grocery store, she already knows what they want when stopping by again on their way home. "The Global Times, Reference News, Beijing Evening News are at the top three of my customers' picks," said Zeng.
Like many common newsstands across the country, Zeng's shop resembles a giant two-fold book. When fully unfolded, publications and newspapers line its left and right wings, with a small counter at the center for greeting customers. In addition to selling publications, Chinese newsstands are often equipped with convenience retails. Taking Zeng's as an example, it sells beverages and snacks.
Compared to public reading facilities like libraries and reading rooms, a newsstand is "not just for reading, but also strengthens the bonds between people, a role that other reading facilities can hardly replace," said Cheng.
"I now can also communicate using a few English words because a few foreign customers living nearby are always coming to buy fashion magazines," Zeng told the Global Times.
In Shanghai, Jiang Jun runs what is now the city's last newsstand. At the back of the shop, shelves are carefully organized with yellow sticky notes marking reserved spaces, each labeled with a reader's name. Dozens of customers have long-standing subscriptions with Jiang, each with their own preferences for titles and frequency.
The newsstand, though popular with customers, was on the brink of closure due to operational pressure. Taking Jiang's shop in Shanghai as an example, it was almost closed due to an expired lease. Yet in the city of Hangzhou near Shanghai, only 69 newspaper kiosks remain at present.
"The newsstand is gradually disappearing, and it is no longer the elephant in the room," said Zeng.
'New way reborn'
According to data from China's State Post Bureau, the total number of postal newsstands nationwide fell from 28,000 in 2010 to 8,000 in 2022, a decline of 71 percent over 12 years. By the end of 2023, the number of newsstands nationwide stood at 7,344.
The decline of newsstands is closely linked to technological development. Jiang Yufang, an expert specializing in public cultural education, told the Global Times that "rather than focusing on restoring their numbers," the priority should be "upgrading newsstands."
This call for upgrading has also been underscored in China's first national regulations to promote public reading. The regulations call for "rational planning of public reading facility construction" and enhancing "the allocation and updating" of public reading facilities and services.
Nationwide, newsstands had already begun creatively upgrading before the regulations officially take effect on February 1.
At Beijing's Jingshan Park, a newsstand has crossed into the "cultural heritage" sphere by launching creative products related to Beijing's Central Axis. Another newsstand near Peking University not only offers newspapers, but also features creative items, leveraging this educational IP to become a trendy spot for young people.
Meanwhile, in cities like Shenzhen and Nantong, newsstands have been transformed into spaces for charity events. In Wuxi, a local has launched the city's first newsstand with cultural tourism attributes, turning it into a venue for a city photo exhibition.
A growing number of innovative upgrades are slowing the decline of newsstands, and vendors like Zeng told the Global Times they have also received upgrade notices from local postal departments.
"The key to a newsstand's rebirth is to upgrade them into small-unite cultural spaces that resonate with modern needs," Jiang told the Global Times. "The success of one upgraded newsstand naturally inspires another, and can even spark change across the entire industry."
Reading is an important avenue for humans to acquire knowledge, expand wisdom and cultivate virtue. It enlightens us and helps us aim high and stand upright.
As China's first national regulations to promote public reading are set to take effect on February 1, the country is entering a new phase for its national reading initiative. The regulations explicitly call for improving reading services for different groups and advancing reading equity through institutional guarantees.
The Global Times has launched a special series to show how reading is changing people's lives. This installment looks inside China's newsstands, which have witnessed the bond between people and communities through reading.
A migrant worker reads and buys newspapers at a newsstand in the Beijing Central Business District on October 21, 2025. Photo: VCG
Now in her 50s, Zeng Jie has spent over a decade building a life in Beijing, far from her hometown Yibin in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. Having worked jobs like housekeeping upon her arrival, the former city newcomer now has a family here that she supports by running a humble newsstand around 5 square meters in size.Her newsstand is on a street in Beijing's Chaoyang district, not far from the CBD. Every morning, she opens for business and closes up around 10 pm, a rhythm she has kept for nine years. "My house is a 7-minute walk away. This stand is like a tent for us," Zeng told the Global Times.
As a "tent" for her family's survival, every decision Zeng makes at her business is a careful pull on its ropes - optimizing the publication mix, extending hours and more - all to keep the newsstand steady against the winds of an increasingly digitized reading landscape. But even though her income barely exceeds her rent, Zeng still chooses to keep her tent pitched.
"Running it is our way of life here, especially with the neighbors. I'll keep going as long as we can get by," said Zeng.
Not just for selling
Earlier in January, Zeng renewed the lease on her newsstand for the coming year. What drove her decision was her neighbors' support. Mostly elderly, they have known Zeng for years. When these familiar faces pass by her newsstand on their way to the grocery store, she already knows what they want when stopping by again on their way home. "The Global Times, Reference News, Beijing Evening News are at the top three of my customers' picks," said Zeng.
Like many common newsstands across the country, Zeng's shop resembles a giant two-fold book. When fully unfolded, publications and newspapers line its left and right wings, with a small counter at the center for greeting customers. In addition to selling publications, Chinese newsstands are often equipped with convenience retails. Taking Zeng's as an example, it sells beverages and snacks.
Compared to public reading facilities like libraries and reading rooms, a newsstand is "not just for reading, but also strengthens the bonds between people, a role that other reading facilities can hardly replace," said Cheng.
"I now can also communicate using a few English words because a few foreign customers living nearby are always coming to buy fashion magazines," Zeng told the Global Times.
In Shanghai, Jiang Jun runs what is now the city's last newsstand. At the back of the shop, shelves are carefully organized with yellow sticky notes marking reserved spaces, each labeled with a reader's name. Dozens of customers have long-standing subscriptions with Jiang, each with their own preferences for titles and frequency.
The newsstand, though popular with customers, was on the brink of closure due to operational pressure. Taking Jiang's shop in Shanghai as an example, it was almost closed due to an expired lease. Yet in the city of Hangzhou near Shanghai, only 69 newspaper kiosks remain at present.
"The newsstand is gradually disappearing, and it is no longer the elephant in the room," said Zeng.
'New way reborn'
According to data from China's State Post Bureau, the total number of postal newsstands nationwide fell from 28,000 in 2010 to 8,000 in 2022, a decline of 71 percent over 12 years. By the end of 2023, the number of newsstands nationwide stood at 7,344.
The decline of newsstands is closely linked to technological development. Jiang Yufang, an expert specializing in public cultural education, told the Global Times that "rather than focusing on restoring their numbers," the priority should be "upgrading newsstands."
This call for upgrading has also been underscored in China's first national regulations to promote public reading. The regulations call for "rational planning of public reading facility construction" and enhancing "the allocation and updating" of public reading facilities and services.
Nationwide, newsstands had already begun creatively upgrading before the regulations officially take effect on February 1.
At Beijing's Jingshan Park, a newsstand has crossed into the "cultural heritage" sphere by launching creative products related to Beijing's Central Axis. Another newsstand near Peking University not only offers newspapers, but also features creative items, leveraging this educational IP to become a trendy spot for young people.
Meanwhile, in cities like Shenzhen and Nantong, newsstands have been transformed into spaces for charity events. In Wuxi, a local has launched the city's first newsstand with cultural tourism attributes, turning it into a venue for a city photo exhibition.
A growing number of innovative upgrades are slowing the decline of newsstands, and vendors like Zeng told the Global Times they have also received upgrade notices from local postal departments.
"The key to a newsstand's rebirth is to upgrade them into small-unite cultural spaces that resonate with modern needs," Jiang told the Global Times. "The success of one upgraded newsstand naturally inspires another, and can even spark change across the entire industry."
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