Demand for cultural calendars rising

The central government's clampdown on lavish spending by public officials has helped spawn a renaissance in one area of publishing - the production of high-quality calendars that highlight the country's culture.

Such calendars, with exquisite art and writing, have become hugely popular since October 2013. That's when the spending crackdown put a halt to the decades-old annual ritual of State-owned companies buying and giving calendars as gifts - although not of the quality of the artistic ones now on the market.

As a result, publishers have competed to come up with calendars for which people are willing to fork out good money.