Exhibition shows 40 years of China through antiques

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‍Around 3,000 antiques from Chinese families are on display at the Taiyuan Art Museum in northern Shanxi Province to show China's changes over the past 40 years.

The artifacts include bikes, sewing machines, tape recorders, tapes, concert tickets and business suits.

The old-fashioned radios and monochromatic TVs evoke memories about entertainment in the past. /VCG Photo

An old bike stands out at the exhibition hall. It was the first bike of Wu Erbao's family.

Between the 1950s and early 1990s, ration coupons were needed in China for many necessities and household items, as the country had a shortage of food and materials.

A prototype living room from a Chinese household in the 1980s. /VCG Photo

Wu bought this bike for 157 yuan (around 23 US dollars) in 1967 when he finally attained a coupon. The plumber who only earned more than 20 yuan a year had to borrow money from his parents and colleagues.

When he rode the bike home, his neighbors were surprised and envious.

Following the reform and opening-up in the late 1970s, the market economy has gradually replaced the planned economy, phasing out the ration coupons in the early 1990s.

An old bike used by ice cream vendors in the 1980s and 1990s. /VCG Photo

Wu owns a private car and can now afford to buy bikes for his daughters.

"We have better cars and a better life, but every time I see this old bike, it reminds me of where I started," Wu said.

A blue-gray business suit has also attracted public attention. In 1979, Cai Peiyi purchased this custom-made business suit before he left China to study in the US.

A visitor looks at a tumbler which he used as a toy during his boyhood. /VCG Photo

"I took the suit with me wherever I went, such as New York, Canberra and London," Cai said.

The exhibition is the brainchild of 48-year-old Huang Haibo.

When she was a visiting scholar in the US, she told locals that televisions and private cars started entering ordinary Chinese homes in the 1980s.

Various beverages from the old days immerse spectators in nostalgia. /VCG Photo

"Americans usually asked me what China was like at that time," Huang recalled. "I hope to show the changes through the antiques owned at the time by the Chinese families."

The two-month exhibition will conclude on October 11.

(Cover: The evolution of luggage bags reflect how the Chinese have been traveled over the last 40 years. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency