25 Shi Jin - Coarse Grains Stamp Siping City

Chinese grain ration coupons (粮票) were a direct instrument of the planned economy's rationing apparatus, issued at national, provincial, and municipal levels simultaneously — each valid only within its own administrative jurisdiction. A Siping City coupon like this one could not be used outside Siping, which made travel in the reform-era 1980s a logistical exercise in coupon management. By 1987, the system was already eroding; market liberalization had begun undermining the rationale for municipal-level grain control, and many local bureaus issued their final series within a year or two of this date.

The "coarse grains" (粗粮) designation reflects a genuine nutritional hierarchy enforced by the state — fine grain (精粮) quotas were smaller and more prized.