("Shopping in China--Then and Now
When I think back on my early days in China, when I worked in Shanghai as a foreign English teacher in 1989, one of the many massive differences that strike me is in the availability of consumer goods. In those days, the majority of stores were poorly stocked and indifferently run. You could get basic necessities, but for anything in short supply, anything imported and any sort of 'luxury goods', you had to go to the state-run 'Friendship Stores'. This is where foreign tourists were brought to shop when they visited China--one could buy Chinese handicrafts and jewelry to take home for souvenirs, or buy Western style food products.") |
