This Day, That Year

Item from Aug 11, 1998, in China Daily: The Beijing Book Building - perhaps the biggest bookstore in China - has lured many customers since it opened in the capital in May. The bookstore, located in the center of Xidan, said it has received an average 400,000 customers daily. The number exceeded 600,000 during holidays. Books worth 269,000 yuan were sold every day.

In the digital age, more Chinese readers have been turning from traditional print publications to the screens of electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Last year, for the first time the number of people reading on computers, cellphones and tablets surpassed those who read printed books, according to a report from the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication in April.