Reading is Sexy

Particularly in China, according to the Global Times.

From the piece...

"In books, one can find ladies as fair as jade," Song Dynasty (968 - 1022) emperor Zhao Heng wrote, describing Chinese scholars' pursuit of historical ideals in books.

Nowadays, instead of it just being an old saying, these fair ladies step out of the books to approach readers in a new phenomenon where publishers hire models to promote recently released books and magazines by either posing for photos with them or reading them in public.

Kang Di, 21, has received more than the usual number of calls from friends recently, ever since a photo of her reading on the subway got posted on book.qq.com on March 16. "They saw my picture on the website and were curious as to why I was posing in front of a camera, reading books." Kang smiles and speaks in a gentle voice, "It's a coincidence that I was asked if I'd like to pose for portraits reading books on the subway. It sounded interesting for a try, and now there I am on the web."

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