Newsstands face battle amid changing times

In 1999, the city began setting up newsstands on a large scale. Two years later, the authorities decided to regulate the stands through an overall planning, management and supply channel.

The peak year was 2008, when the city had 2,500 newsstands, more than twice the number now.

At that time, Yang's stand only sold newspapers and magazines. Her profit was about 7,000 yuan a month. Ten years later, she makes almost the same amount with the help of food and drink sales.

"I miss the days in 2007 when I sold several boxes of fashion magazines each day," she said.

Arrival of iPhone

On Jan 9, 2007, Steve Jobs, chairman, CEO and co-founder of Apple Inc, announced the arrival of the iPhone at his company in the United States.

Since then, smartphones and the mobile internet have rapidly changed the reading habits of people worldwide.

Yang said: "From 2009, business started to decline. And it's never picked up again."

During a one-hour interview with Yang at her newsstand, seven customers arrived to buy drinks; four bought cigarettes and only one bought a newspaper.

The man who bought the paper said: "It's very convenient to have newsstands. I hope they will be kept by the authorities. As for food and drinks, I don't care. If they want to ban them for safety reasons, this is fine by me."

A customer who bought cigarettes said he had not bought any newspapers or magazines at this stand for years, adding, "It's just a cigarettes stand for me."