Culture-themed calendars like the 2016 datebook published by Forbidden City Publishing House are selling well.[Photo by Feng Yongbin/China Daily]

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.

One such customer is Xu Caixia, 29, of Suzhou, Jiangsu province. A few days ago, she was delighted to receive by courier a calendar whose theme is the Chinese novel A Dream of Red Mansions. It was the second calendar she bought for 2016.

"Earlier I got a Forbidden City calendar," said Xu, an aficionado of painting and calligraphy. "I wasn't expecting much from the second one, and it has really surprised me. It was beautifully packaged, and there is a timeline of the life of the author, Cao Xueqin."