Internet changing people's reading habits in China

by Xinhua writer Ma Mengli

BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Like so many lovers of fiction in China, when
Sa Rina wants to read, she turns to the two computer screens on her desk instead
of reading an actual book.

In fact, the 26-year-old woman can hardly remember when was the last time
she bought a book.

"I have hardly ever bought any books since ... around 2003. I have been
reading online in recent years," said Sa, a secretary of a culture media company
in Hohhot, capital of China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

"With the click of the mouse, any story or information that I want at any
given time or place, is there," she said. This may well explain why so many
people in China now prefer to embrace the wonders of the Internet than read
print copies of books or any other reading material.

According to the fifth national reading survey by the China Research
Institute of Publishing Science (CRIPS) in late 2008, the Internet reading rate
in China climbed quickly to 36.5 percent, higher for the first time than the
34.7 percent for printed books.

Like it or not, computers and the Internet are changing dramatically the
way Chinese people read -- at least in Sa's case.

The first thing Sa does at her office desk every morning is to turn on her
computers and surf the Internet, reading news and messages. "I can access much
more information via the Internet than from news***s," she said.

For Sa, the Internet is a far better medium for finding the books she
wants.

"If you become a registered member of a reading website, you can set up
your own e-book folders and collection, which makes it much easier for me to
locate the books I have been halfway through," she said.

"You can also find very obscure books, read reviews of them, and post
comments," she said, "Another reason I enjoy online reading so much is that the
stories are always timely updated."

While some are enjoying the convenience of Web reading and the overwhelming
quantity of information on the Net, many others argue that the Internet has
undermined the joy and art of reading a real book.

"Online reading tends to be fast and superficial, and I doubt that people
could well absorb what they read online," Song Heping, a staunch print-book
reader, said.

"I love the experience of reading a printed book, even the smell of books
or magazines is delight. You are not going to get the same experience on the
Net," Song said.

Moreover, the serendipity of coming across a captivating book in a bookshop
could not be replicated online, added Song.

"Holding a printed book and reading it in a pleasant and quiet environment
is, in itself, a great pleasure in life," Han Xu, the deputy editor-in-chief of
"Da Jia," a well-known literary magazine in China, said.

"Compared with e-book reading, browsing a printed one is
rather'slow-paced'," he said. "But the 'slowness' is where the delicacy of
reading lies."

But Han also stressed that online reading has a great positive
significance. "From a long-term point of view, online reading could greatly
promote the development of literature."

"E-books are a good rival to printed books and magazines, therefore, they
can force traditional publications to produce even better quality works of
literature," Han said.