Extra! Extra! Li Lei, Newspaper Vendor

Imagine being physically trapped inside a tiny room for 12 hours a day with magazines and newspapers as interior decoration. On top of that, your only interaction with other people is giving them directions or selling them phone cards. For some, this would be a terrible job. For Li Lei, it means an opportunity to supply the public with what they need – not to mention free reading material forever.

Is there any publication that nobody ever buys?
English-language magazines. After I get them, I put them in the room to the back here [pointing]. No one ever asks for them. Occasionally some people ask for China Daily but that’s about it.

What do you do with the out-of-date magazines?
Sell them to the recycling people. There’s a loss of 700 kuai whenever I get rid of old magazines and newspapers. But you can’t think about the loss. That is no way to do business.

What’s your favorite magazine?
Vista Kan Tianxia [a biweekly newsmagazine].

Which celebrity are you tired of seeing on the magazine covers?
Wen Zhang. He’s been everywhere recently.

Have you been robbed at night or held at gunpoint?
Not really. It’s Beijing. There have been several break-ins at other newsstands recently, but not mine. I trust the People’s Police Force and the police station is right there [points across the road].

Does any one day stick out in your memory because it was a big news day?
Yes. When Kim Jong-il “went to see Marx” [i.e. passed away –Ed.], all of the newspapers had his photos on the front page. I sold a lot of newspapers that day.

Is it inconvenient to go to the washroom?
If I have to leave the stand, I’ll just lock the door and nothing ever goes missing. In fact, in the morning, I pick up a dozen magazines, leave them on the ground outside, go for breakfast and they are still there untouched when I get back.

Click here to see the March issue of the Beijinger in full.

Photos: Max Wu