Special Purchases
Updated: 2005-01-28

In the Spring Festival in the 1970s, the purchase of products, especially food, was much more convenient at a time when almost everything was in short supply and had to be bought with ration tickets.

Sweets in various shapes like flower baskets, pagodas and chickens or ducks, were a favorite of the people. Girls liked to make themselves up with all kinds of flowers like chrysanthemums, peonies, roses or gladiolas. They would also be attracted by a number of potted flowers to decorate their homes.

For sure, parents would buy some little presents as surprises for their children. The gift for older children aged from eight to 12 would usually be a saving pot; six- and seven-year-olds would get a diabolo (a toy in which a two-headed top is balanced on a string fastened to two sticks) or a kite ; and two- to four-year-olds would get a small drum. In addition, the wooden arms, waist drums, building blocks, shuttlecocks and facial make-ups were also favored by all the children.