1 Shi Liang - Cooking Oil Stamp Harbin City, Heilongjiang

Chinese commodity ration stamps occupy an awkward category — neither banknotes nor fiscal paper in the strict sense, but they functioned as currency for specific goods during the decades when China's planned economy allocated edible oil, grain, and cloth through coupon books rather than market prices. Cooking oil rations persisted in many cities well into the late 1980s, even as broader market reforms were already underway. Harbin, as a major northeastern industrial city, maintained its rationing infrastructure longer than some southern counterparts.

Provincial and municipal grain bureaus printed their own stamps independently, which is why Heilongjiang issues differ visually and materially from those of neighboring Jilin or Liaoning. Survival rates for used single stamps are low — most were collected in bulk and pulped.