5 Chi - Zhejiang Province Cloth Stamp

Cloth ration coupons were a cornerstone of China's planned distribution system from the early 1950s until their abolition in 1983–1984, when the State Council formally ended the national rationing framework. Zhejiang Province continued issuing provincial cloth stamps into 1984 as the system wound down, producing what amount to some of the final examples of a mechanism that had governed how hundreds of millions of people bought fabric for three decades.

The "chi" is a traditional Chinese unit of length — approximately 33 centimeters — used specifically for measuring cloth. Five chi was a meaningful monthly allocation, roughly enough for a single garment.