She not only reads books but gives them to her customers, along with CDs. "Books and music endow people wisdom, peace, kindness and harmony, and is good for the young," Shi says.

"People like to bargain but I cannot reduce the price to grab customers from other stores, which is breaking the trade rules, so I give gifts."

Shi has dealt with thousands of customers in her 15 years of selling headphones.

As one of the first high-end headphone sellers in Hangzhou, Shi is a businesswoman with principles.

She never sells electronic games because she believes they are harmful to the younger generation.

She doesn't enter into bargaining because her products are reasonably priced.

Aiming to make exorbitant profits would set a bad example to other sellers, she says.

Shi has met thousand of customers in her 15 years of selling headphones.

But there was one encounter which touched her deeply.

Once a boy tried out a pair of headphones pricing at around 2,000 yuan in the store, but he didn't have enough money to pay for them. He determined to save up but, just a few months later, Shi learned that he had died from cancer.

Shi got the news from his friend and regretted that she did not know about his condition as she would have ensured he got his prized headphones.

"Good headphones are for music lovers. I definitely would have given him them if he had told me.

"When I am too old to run the store, I'll distribute all the headphones and CDs to my friends and loyal customers, hoping they can share music with their friends and family."

Shi is opening a music salon in a small room next to her store and she has purchased sofas and stereos. The salon is going to open at the end of October, and the next plan is to buy some lights and curtains, "to create some sentimental and elegant tone!" she laughs.

Address: 569 Moganshan Rd.

How to get there: Buses K70, K30, K23, K15, K1, K188, K133 to Dasuo Bridge stop

Tel: (0571) 8808-5841

Source: Shanghai Daily

Editor: Liu Fang