This year marks 20 years since the food stamps system was abolished, which was a product of China’s planned economy decades ago. For most people, it is a fixture in their memory of the hungry days in the 1960s, when there were food shortages.
When people wanted to eat out or travel, they had to make sure one thing was in their pockets: food stamps.
During the old days of the planned economy, food was rationed, and citizens would get a fixed amount of stamps in exchange for staples. Each person had to apply for a food quota each month.
Bu saw the food stamps come and go in his lifetime. Under the system, farmers sent surplus grain to local governments, who reallocated them to ensure a basic standard of living for all the people in the region.
In those days, money certainly couldn’t buy you everything. State-owned food stores took stamps as the only currency.
Guangzhou was the first to shelve the system in 1992, and was followed by some other cities that were among the initial wave in implementing reform and opening up in China.
China decided to put an end to the system competely in 1993, when the country was able to produce enough food for its people. Today, food stamps have again become hot items... in auction markets where they’re highly sought after by collectors and investors.