Recently, the result of the national reading survey has been announced (宣布) and it paints a brighter future for reading habits in the Internet times. Last year, 21,270 men from 55 cities answered the survey. It showed that the Chinese people’s reading rate went up slightly over the year before. Reading rate means the percentage of citizens regularly reading books, newspapers and digital reading materials.

The survey shows that the daily reading time and yearly reading number of paper books, printed newspapers and magazines have dropped, while digital reading has continuously increased. Every day Chinese people use different digital devices like mobile phones, personal computers or iPads for 100.41 minutes on average (平均), 15.5 percent higher than the year before.

According to the survey, Chinese people’s reading habits have changed because mobile phones provide more chances to get different kinds of reading materials on digital platforms. More than 50 percent of the Chinese people who were interviewed prefer digital reading, mostly on mobile phones.

Another interesting result is that an increasing number of people like to listen to audiobooks (有声读物). More than 30 percent of the people who answered the survey listen to audiobooks, higher than the year before. It may have something to do with the way people go to and from work — many people in the countryside drive or take public transport for long hours, which leads to the greater need for audiobooks. People’s reading habits are changing with social changes. In my opinion, the relevant authorities (相关机构) should notice it and shouldn’t fall behind.

The National Reading Survey

With the rapid development of science and technology, the ways of communication among people have changed a lot.

As we all know, in ancient times, people communicated with others by writing letters. It took a very long time to get the message.

In the 19th century, telegraph (电报) was invented, but it was not widely used. The letter was still the commonest way at that time. In 1836, John Coker invented the first electromagnetic telegraph in the world, and then telegraph became popular. It was much faster than letters and brought great convenience to people.

As time goes by, telephones become increasingly widely used. Now, phones have been developed as mobile phones, fixed telephones, Internet telephones and other categories. They are important communication tools in modern information society.

In addition, network communication is popular as well. It is especially widely welcomed by the young. A great number of people communicate with others on the Internet by using software, such as QQ, Wechat, BBS and MMS. Using software is easy. A computer which is connected to the network is enough. In China, Wechat has become the most popular communication software nowadays. Wechat is a mobile phone text and voice messaging communication software and it is developed by Tencent. People can not only hear the sound, but also see the people they talk to when they are making video calls.

Fran Klans is the owner of a coffeehouse in Beckley, West Virginia. Her coffeehouse is called Serendipity. Until this fall, Serendipity was a comfortable place to drink coffee and chat with friends. That all changed when Klaus met Cameron Taylor. Taylor is a computer expert. He wanted to bring new technology to West Virginia.

Klaus and Taylor decided to turn Serendipity into a cybercafé. "It was like a bolt of lightning hit us both at the same time," Klaus said. "When we met, we realized what a good team we would be."

With the popularity of computers, email, and the Internet, the newly opened cybercafé at Serendipity is very busy. It was just what Beckley, West Virginia needed.

Serendipity is the first cybercafé in West Virginia, but cybercafés are not unusual in other parts of the country. In fact, the first one in the United States opened in 1984. In the early 1990s, there were fewer than 100. Today, cybercafés are popular in many places. There are now over 1000 cybercafés in cities round the world.

Serendipity's cybercafé has four new computers. Customers can use the computers to do many things. For example, they can write business reports, do homework, or play games. They can also use the computers to surf the Internet, send or receive email messages, and find entertainment information. They can do all of these things in the comfort of a coffeehouse atmosphere.

"We are a favourite place for young professionals and students," Klaus said. "You see lots of people here with laptop computers. Computers and coffee cups, business and coffee beans. They just seem to go together.

The cybercafé is also a favourite place for travelers. "Travelers can check their email, send business documents, communicate with their office, and have a cup of coffee at the same time.

Adding a cybercafé is not the only change for the comfortable coffeehouse. In the future, Klaus and Taylor want to install video-conferencing equipment. With video-conferencing, customers can have face-to-face business meetings with people across the globe.

Serendipity's future plans also include poetry readings on Thursday nights and musical events on Saturday nights.

Lots of people seem to enjoy going to Serendipity's cybercafé. As Klaus said, "Where else can you surf the Net and enjoy a cup of cappuccino with friends?"