Paper calendars make comeback with creative strokes

Wang, the shop manager, said apart from buying the calendars for themselves, many customers send them as gifts to their family members and friends.

Another creative product, Owspace Desk Calendar, is marketed as an old calendar for new generations due to its inspirations drawn from traditional calendars.

Like the old calendars, the black-and-white calendar requires people to tear off the date in order to move on to the next. It was also designed with dos and don'ts, but often in an interesting tone, such as "Don't do nothing today" or "Stop daydreaming."

Xue Jing, product director of Owspace, said that it usually takes eight to 10 months to design the look and edit the content of the calendars. The company sold 70,000 copies in 2015, and individual purchases surged to over 350,000 copies in 2018.

Creative and specific designs are seen on other calendars too. The Palace Museum's themed calendar for 2020 features the architecture of the Forbidden City, as well as related cultural relics and stories. It has become one of the museum's most popular souvenirs.

Another calendar, developed by Chinese movie-rating site Douban, shows a movie with film stills and classic lines every day, and the National Museum of China released its 2020 calendar featuring the information of cultural relics.

"Calendars can bring you personal feelings," Du said. "For me, I feel the moment slip away as I turn the pages."