Many expatriates in the capital consider this one of the "cons" of living in the city.
Visitors will be spoilt for choice in 2008. [Courtesy of CNPIEC] |
"It is very inconvenient to buy foreign newspapers and magazines in Beijing," said South African Jeremy Goldkorn, a 12-year China resident who founded a popular English blog about the country.
"As a long-term resident of Beijing, I am already used to reading my favorite publications online, but even then, some foreign websites are inexplicably difficult to access."
Beijing is going all out on a PR offensive to show the world next summer that it is an international city and is ready to bend the rules to give visitors a more comfortable stay.
In addition to implementing a citywide clean-up campaign involving taxi-drivers and social etiquette lessons, it is ramping up English learning across the city, recruiting an unprecedented number of volunteers for the Games and doing its utmost to sanitize the environment and food hygiene levels in the city.
The relaxation of curbs on magazines and newspapers follows Olympic protocol. Previous host cities like Athens, Sydney and Atlanta were also asked to ensure journalists and athletes had access to all leading international publications.
The move is also in line with a growing appetite among the Chinese public for foreign, and especially original, material, including novels.
The final installment of the bestselling Harry Potter series, for example, sold 50,000 copies on its first print here despite a high retail price of 200 yuan per hardback copy.
"This trend of releasing more foreign material stems purely from demand," said Liang.
"Before China opened up, expatriates were so eager to read their newspapers and books in Beijing that China made exceptions by opening foreign bookstores.
"Nowadays, Chinese bookstores sell foreign books."
The good news for athletes, tourists and journalists during the 2008 Olympics is that they will be able to find many of their favorite paperbacks at downtown bookstores, while also being able to catch up on the latest news from the nine designated kiosks only hours after publications like the Financial Times are printed in Hong Kong.
Popular Asian newspapers such as Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, Singapore's The Strait Times and France's L'quipe will also be available, said Liang.
The kiosks got a pre-run this August at the Olympic co-host city of Qingdao when it staged the Qingdao International Sailing Regatta, an Olympic test event.
Liang said his company is also talking with leading newspapers including The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times to keep down retail costs and make sure the papers arrive in a timely manner. These two dailies do not have access to printing presses in Hong Kong and must be flown from the United States to Beijing.
"Our newsstands will respond to the practical needs of visitors during the Games," said Liang. "We plan to release a list of what's going to be available next April or May, but it may not be the final list."
Six of the nine kiosks will be located in the media area for accredited and non-accredited journalists, he said. The biggest one, with a floor space of 68 sq m, will sit in the International Broadcasting Center.
Athletes and coaches will have access to their favorite reads at the Olympic Village, while another store at the Olympic Green will cater to international and domestic spectators.
The newsstands will be updated every three hours from 9 am to 6 pm, Jiao Guoying, president of the company, told local media recently.
