The table illustrates the proportion of adults in urban and rural areas who participated in four pastime activities – reading, animated play, playing, and photography – between 1990 and 2010.
Overall, the percentage of reading remained the most popular activity throughout the period while that of photography accounted for the smallest rate compared with other activities, with the exception of the urban area in 2010. The share of reading and photography experienced some substantial increases, whereas the share of animated play and playing steadily decreased, except for the rural area, which remained stable over the period.
In detail, the proportion of reading started at 61% in the urban area, while that of reading in the rural area accounted for 71% in 1990. In 2010, the rate of reading in both areas increased, reaching 78%. As for playing, it commenced at 21% in the urban area, while the percentage of playing in the rural area represented the same rate in 1990. By 2010, the share of playing in the urban area declined gradually, to 14%. As for the rural area, playing remained stable, at 26%.
By contrast, the proportion of animated film was higher than that of photography in both areas in 1990. In the urban area, the percentage of animated film accounted for 10%, compared with 7% for photography, while in the rural area, the figures were 18% and 14%, respectively. In 2010, the opposite was true. The share of photography was higher than animated film.