This Day, That Year

Editor's note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up policy.

An item from Nov 2, 1996, in China Daily showed a woman putting clothes into a coin-operated washing machine in a self-service laundry in Shanghai. It was China's first coin-operated launderette.

As living standards improve in China, people are increasingly turning to professional laundry services. As a result, the country's laundry and dry-cleaning market is developing rapidly.