100 Grams - Food Stamp Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

Chinese food ration coupons (liangpiao) were not issued by banks — they were administrative instruments of the state grain distribution system, allocated per household based on registered residency under the hukou system. A Baotou City coupon could not legally be used in Hohhot, or anywhere outside the issuing municipality. This hyper-local validity made them functionally a parallel currency, accepted by grain shops but worthless the moment you crossed a city boundary.

The national rationing system was already being dismantled by 1991, with most urban grain markets liberalized by 1993. Coupons issued in this final period saw short and often incomplete circulation runs before the system was abolished entirely.