People in old times created various ways of advertising to prosper their businesses. Today you can still find traces of the ancient advertising signs in commercial streets or in front of stores and restaurants. The main advertising forms included:

  Peddling

Peddling, a kind of clear, sonorous and rhythmic yo-heave-ho, was a special way to attract customers or passengers when the peddlers traveled about the streets to sell their goods.

  Signboards

The signboard, usually made of cloth, silk or boards, was a vivid sign to describe the businesses and attract customers. Mainly set up in front of shops and bars, it was also called a bar sign or shop sign.

  Music

It was a centuries-old advertising form in China in which sellers sang songs and played instruments while selling their goods.

  Lanterns

Lanterns had been used as a means of advertising in front of shops and restaurants until the founding of New China. Similar to neon signs in today's cities, lanterns in ancient times had clear but brief business descriptions on them.

  Real objects

Real objects were used as advertising signs for businesses especially in front of restaurants and bars, such as the head of various cattle.

  Picture signs

Picture advertising, such as designs of scissors for a scissors shop and shoe pattern for a shoe shop, was a more civilized way compared to using real objects.

  Characters

From real objects to pictures, and to pictures with descriptions, ancient advertising had developed a long way. The emergence of signboards with only characters, such as "当" (to pawn) and "押" (to impawn) in front of pawnshops, indicated the maturity of advertising.

Copperplate-printed advertisements emerged during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), more than 300 years earlier than those in the West.