Traditional calendar days are numbered

Guangzhou Daily reports the two markets will become green spaces for Baiyun district's future Baiyun New Town central business district.

"Specialized markets' administrative costs are high, while calendar stores contribute little to the district's tax revenue. Changing the land use following the calendar industry's changes meets the demand for transforming the land and upgrading the district's economy," Guangzhou Daily quoted the economics department of Baiyun district's Sanyuanli subdistrict office as saying.

A dated industry

The top anti-graft body's ban on government spending on calendars was a blow to the printed calendar industry but isn't wholly to blame for the decline, said Kong, from the Guangdong Printing Association.

He recalled the good-old days of the printed-calendar industry 10 years ago, when designs diversified to include calendars made of silk, canvas and xuan paper, or rice paper, with Chinese ink paintings.

This made calendars high-end gifts.

"But smartphones' proliferation about five years ago hit sales," Kong said.

"People started using their phones' calendars. The ban just accelerated the decline, making a fall a plunge."

He believed the ban created a crisis but should produce a positive long-term effect by forcing sector transformation.

"Printers must evolve from producing only calendars to a wide product range," he said. "They should develop more creative designs and use e-commerce well. And they should follow the printing-industry trends of personalization and DIY."

One of the country's biggest digital-printing chains, Tianyi Digital Printing Co, Ltd, started online DIY-printing services in 2008.

Yofus.com users upload photos, place them in predesigned templates and get customized desk calendars, photo books, postcards, mugs and T-shirts delivered to their doors.

"While the government's traditional-calendar spending ban was an industry blow, it's an opportunity for personalized printing to leap forward," CEO of Tianyi subsidiary Guangzhou Yofus Digital Technology Co Ltd Dong Zuming said.

Dong said his business grew 50 percent annually after the ban.

While more young people use smartphone calendars, there is still strong demand for traditional calendars as gifts and from the elderly.

"Personalized and DIY calendars are special gifts that can pass givers' happiness to receivers and touch their hearts," Dong said.