The way we ate

Zhiqing (educated youth who participated in the Down to the Countryside Movement during the Cultural Revolution, 1966-76), longtang (lane) culture, as well as traditional teahouses, are usually only glimpsed in TV series today, if they are seen at all. However, the Global Times has found some restaurants where people can relive these days of yesteryear and put themselves right back into these never-to-be-repeated scenarios.

Country folk

When speaking of Chinese life during the 1960s and the 1970s, it is impossible not to mention the pre-dominant color of the era: military green. Uniforms, shoes, backpacks and even water bottles - everything was green. And as time has passed, the color has rid itself of its political baggage, and is now a fashionable "retro" color in China.

So it's not surprising that visitors to the Shangshan Xiaxiang Zhiqing Hotpot restaurant are welcomed by waitstaff in the same kind of military green uniforms of the period.

Started by a Chongqing native last October beside Zhenru old town in Putuo district, the restaurant is the first zhiqing-themed eatery in the city. At the entrance is a welcome sign which features a large image of Chairman Mao, and the characters wei renmin fuwu, meaning "serve the people."

Picture frames on the wall include a decades-old marriage license and a university graduation certificate, as well as a number of old tickets that people formerly used to buy daily necessities under China's former planned economy.

The color red is ubiquitous; the dining area is divided by red bars, and the floor is decorated with red tiles on which are engraved slogans from the Cultural Revolution including "Devote yourself to the revolutionary cause of the countryside" and "Develop your skills to full in the vastness of the countryside."

Beside the communal dining areas, the restaurant also has private rooms decorated with oil paintings depicting everyday scenes of the zhiqing during the Cultural Revolution.

Business hours: 10:30 am to 2 am next day

Add: 6/F, First Wine Market, 201 Lanxi Road

兰溪路201号第一酒市6楼

Tel: 6139-2576