It's red ink in Philly as China Daily arrives

THE NEW, redesigned Daily News that makes its debut today is not the only newspaper in town that's looking a little different to Philadelphians.

For reasons that aren't quite clear, the U.S. edition of the China Daily, which calls itself the "largest national English language newspaper of China," recently began targeting the Rittenhouse section of Center City to boost subscriptions. Rolled-up copies of the paper, some dry and yellowed from the heat, were found in recent days on front stoops along Pine and Lombard streets and nearby side streets.

On Waverly Street near 17th, Dave Kroch and Cate Rigoulot had the China Daily on a table in their house yesterday, but they said it was just one step closer to the recycling bin. "I didn't even look at it, I just brought it in," Kroch said. "I'm more interested in what's going on in Philadelphia than China."

The business plan, according to a cover letter dated July 15, is to get people to subscribe to the full-color broadsheet after they've spent time reading about "developments and trends in China's economy," "news and analyses of US-China business," and "arts, culture, and the latest trends in Chinese society."

"I didn't even notice it," Louise Simpson, of Addison Street near 18th, said yesterday, slightly annoyed that a reporter - even a local one - was knocking on her door on a Sunday afternoon. She quickly read the cover letter, said she won't be subscribing, and didn't have the faintest idea why the China Daily would choose to blanket her neighborhood.

"There's no Chinese people around here," she said.

The China Daily, according to its website, has a daily circulation of more than 400,000, with U.S. offices in New York; Washington, D.C.; Seattle, and San Francisco. A woman who answered a phone number for the Washington office said that the cover letter explained everything.

According to its website, the U.S. edition is tailored for North America. The company delivering the paper in Center City couldn't be reached for comment.

Avi Eden, a retired corporate executive who lives on 16th Street near Pine, said he had presumed that he was getting the paper because someone in some marketing department had figured out that he travels to China often for business. He said he reads the paper there, but not here.

Meanwhile, in Chinatown, the English-language paper seemed to be a mystery to everyone. One Asian-American Philly cop said he'd never seen the paper before, but was definitely interested. He wanted the reporter's copy.