1 Shi Jin - Noodle Stamp Xian, Shaanxi

Chinese grain ration coupons of this period were issued at municipal, provincial, and national levels simultaneously — each valid only within its own administrative jurisdiction. A city-level coupon like this one from the Xi'an City Grain Bureau could not legally be used to purchase grain outside Xi'an's municipal boundaries, which made travel across China a logistical puzzle requiring the exchange of local coupons for national-issue equivalents at designated state grain shops.

The noodle denomination is specific: this is not a general grain coupon but one restricted to shi jin (10 jin, roughly 5 kg) of mian — wheat noodles, the dietary staple of Shaanxi. By 1983 the rationing system was already fraying under early reform-era market pressures, and coupons from this period often went partially or entirely unused.