Literature lovers hit streets for magazine

October, a magazine published in Beijing, has been a must-buy on newsstands for lovers of literature for four decades.

Launched in August 1978, the magazine, which publishes novels, dramas and poems, has cultivated a group of writers and a large number of readers. Xiong Zhe, 40, editor at a publishing house who was born in the year the magazine was founded, said it is a "joyous experience" to buy it on newsstands on the day it hits the streets once every two months.

"October opened the world of literature for me when I was a teenager," Xiong said. "It helped me to learn about literature and writers at a time when I did not have the ability to choose what books to read.