Last week I took the Beijing metro and, as usual, I headed for the news-stands on the platform. There were none. I felt a terrible loss.
On September 6, the city government said that all 80 vendors had to leave to ease the possible congestion in the event of an emergency evacuation. It sounded fair enough, because the measure was taken for the public's welfare.
But many passengers, like me, were upset. Regular commuters got to rely on the news-stands for their daily papers, giving them something to read until they reached their destination.
Now, commuters have to remember to buy their reading matter before getting to the platform. Those who forget end up being restless during their journey, casting envious glances at other people's papers.
The stands each carried upwards of 300 newspapers, magazines and books. The entrepreneurs manning them worked out most of their distribution deals directly with the publishers. It was well known that the metro vendors got their deliveries first because commuters were among the most loyal readers.
About 400 people made their living sorting, delivering and selling newspapers on metro platforms. Sales averaged 100,000 yuan (HK$94,000) a day, or three million yuan a month. Then, suddenly, they were out of work.
The public was overwhelmingly sympathetic to the plight of the vendors, many of whom had previously been laid off and were facing unemployment for the second time.