Misty eyed

All the items on show at the Memory of the City have been donated by ordinary people from across the country.

Xu Wei, head of Chaoyang Culture Center, enjoys seeing people enthralled by old objects.

"I think they are happy," he says, watching parents and children gathered in the hall filled with more than 1,000 old items used by ordinary families.

The exhibition, titled Memory of the City, is being held at the Capital Museum as part of the 60th anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

"By 'they', I refer to the visitors as well as the items being displayed," Xu adds. "They are pieces of Chinese culture and history. Though they are just ordinary objects without much value in terms of money, they are loaded with implications and the cultural memories of Chinese people."

The items on display are just one-third of the total number collected by the Chaoyang Culture Center.

They include the first mobile phone available in China, radios, record players popular in the 1970s, newspapers and books from publishers which no longer exist, outfits, furniture and some electrical household appliances, such as washing machines and refrigerators made by local manufacturers.

Ordinary people living around the country donated the items.

"Instead of putting the old items in the closet or selling them to collecting stations, people take them to our culture center," Xu says.

An 80-year-old lady named Wang Qi sent her qipao to Xu and volunteered to act as an interpreter. A couple, who moved from their old courtyard house to a modern apartment donated their mirror, which bears the image of former chairman Mao Zedong.

"Donations happens every day and we are happy to collect them because they speak of history."

To give a comprehensive understanding of the old items, the exhibition is divided into four generations - 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s.

Two walls in the hall have old photos from different generations, reminding people of past eras, such as people's daily lives in hutong and changes in fashion.

A man surnamed Yang, a Beijinger from Chaoyang district, stands in front of a series of pictures with women wearing sunglasses and curled hair.

"The design of dresses in different decades reflects changes in society,' he says. "For example, you can tell women were gaining more importance in society by the style changes. In the 70s, people wear similar uniforms, but the dresses were shorter and more Westernized in the 80s."

Young people, too, are interested in the old items. "My grandma has a similar TV set which was bought for her wedding anniversary. It doesn't work now, but we still keep it just for the sake of our memories," she says.

"We hope the collection will bring fond memories for adults and teach young people about China's past culture," Xu says.