综合一区欧美国产,99国产麻豆免费精品,九九精品黄色录像,亚洲激情青青草,久久亚洲熟妇熟,中文字幕av在线播放,国产一区二区卡,九九久久国产精品,久久精品视频免费

Economy

Markets

Industries

Insights

Reports

Events

Farmers in need of more books, films

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-07 07:45

Rural households in China spent an average of just 139.3 yuan ($20.30) on entertainment last year, People's Daily overseas edition reported.

Ministry of Agriculture statistics show each household spent an average of 348 yuan ($50.90) on cultural-related services in 2008, but that 208.7 yuan ($30.50) of this money was spent on their children's education.

This means rural households spent the remaining money on items like books or films for their personal entertainment.

This represents an increase of just 2 yuan on the 2007 data and the newspaper blamed the economic downturn.

Related readings:  Protecting farmers from callous frauds  Farmers could win tractor during opera contest  Farmers to get subsidy for auto purchases  ADB urges support for farmers to start businesses

In contrast, spending on entertainment in 2007 grew by 25.6 yuan on the year before.

"My major entertainment is watching TV, and sometimes folk art performances," Ma Yichang, a farmer from Jiangzhuang village in Shandong province, told China Daily.

"I did not buy a single book, or watch a movie last year."

In Xichen village of Henan province only a few people have access to newspapers and magazines and the internet is beyond the reach of most villagers. "There is no place to buy a newspaper here," a villager in his 50s said.

The man said he paid 5 yuan and travelled 25 km by bus to another town simply to buy his grandson a reference book.

Neither village has a library or other cultural facilities.

The lack of cultural services in rural areas has presented opportunities for some businesses, including Books-on-the-go which sells truck-loads of books to people in rural areas.

A few provinces and cities, including Yunnan and Shaanxi provinces and Taiyuan and Shenyang cities, have allocated funds to build libraries and other cultural centers.