2 Shi Liang - Food Stamp Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

China's internal ration coupon system, formalized during the 1950s and not fully dismantled until 1993, produced thousands of regional variants — but Xinjiang's coupons occupy a distinct category. Issued during a period of intense political pressure on the region's population under the Cultural Revolution, these grain ration tickets were administered through a tightly controlled provincial apparatus rather than through any central banking structure. The shi liang unit (市两) is a traditional Chinese weight measure equal to one-sixteenth of a jin, roughly 31.25 grams — its continued use on official coupons into the 1970s reflects the persistence of customary measurement in rural distribution networks.

Xinjiang coupons from this period are genuinely scarce. Most were used and discarded by design; retention was neither encouraged nor practical for ordinary households.