Friendship Store at Guangzhou

Friendship Store at Guangzhou In the 1980s every major town in China had a Friendship Store. Entry was reserved for foreign tourists and embassy staff, etc., and also certain levels in the government hierarchy. Beijing also had a Friendship Hotel to which the same restrictions applied.

The goods for sale in a Friendship Store were mainly targetted at tourists, most of whom would never see the inside of a normal retail shop. On a typical tour tourists would be bussed to a Friendship Store at every stop.

Many of the items for sale could also be obtained elsewhere. However Friendship Stores also sold luxury goods and food products that were not generally available, so an entry pass was a valuable perk to a government or party official.

Note here the title says "Kwangchow Friendship Store". "Kwangchow" is the transliteration of the name of the city as pronounced in the Cantonese dialect, whereas "Guangzhou" comes from Mandarin, the dialect spoken in the North of China which has long been the official language. The Chinese characters are also in the traditional form as still used by Cantonese speakers, not the simplified form used elsewhere.