Shanghai's last newsstand finds new lease of life

Another customer who impressed Jiang was a university student who sought a specific issue of the People's Daily several months ago that featured an article about his professor's research. He was excited to find what he wanted at the shop, and spent over 2,000 yuan on additional publications to share with dormmates.

Jiang observed that, contrary to popular belief, most of his customers are young to middle-aged groups.

"Also, such individuals are stronger in consumption power. They often buy multiple publications at once after browsing this and that. In contrast, older customers typically purchase a single newspaper daily out of habit," he said.

Chen Zaixuan, a 16-year-old high school student living in Pudong New Area, takes a round-trip bus ride of more than an hour every week to visit the store and buy magazines. For him, this is like a weekly trip to a bookstore, a habit he has maintained for nearly two years. He typically purchases magazines on current affairs, natural sciences, and literature.

The shop's history reflects the broader evolution of Shanghai's print retail industry. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, thousands of newsstands were cultural landmarks in the city. The rise of mobile internet led to their gradual decline after 2010.

However, there is still a dedicated group of readers for print publications. Jiang mentioned that 70 percent of his hundreds of WeChat contacts are readers. Every day, he receives messages asking him to reserve a specific newspaper for a specific date so readers can pick it up later at the store. There are also readers from outside of Shanghai who ask him to mail the publications to them.

Long-time customer Wang Kai, born in 1981, continues to prefer printed newspapers for his reading habits. He visited the store to buy the Economic Observer, which he started reading from the first issue in the early 2000s, back in his university days.

"I followed it up to around issue 1,000. But for some years, I couldn't find a place to buy it, so I stopped," he said, holding the latest issue, the 1,255th, published on Jan 19.

"Although community service centers and libraries also have newspapers and magazines, I can't annotate or cut out borrowed materials, which doesn't suit my reading habits. So, when I come across something I like to read, I still prefer to buy it and take it home," he said.