With a few days left until the official start of this year’s Chinese New Year holiday, Hainan locals are busy with annual festive preparations and shopping.

Haikou’s Historic Qilou street is bright with colorful Spring Festival decorations. (Photo: Hinews / Liu Sunmou)

Different generations of Hainan islanders have celebrated in strikingly different ways over the years. Let’s flip back through the photo album to see how Hainan Spring Festival preparations looked in different eras.

(Photo: @曲琪饼饼 Redbook account)

For those born in the 1950s and 60s, decades of social changes meant that their Spring Festival shopping memories definitely include precious ration coupons. Back then, every household would receive special CNY coupons for meat, sugar, vegetables, and grain. Long lines formed outside the supply points, creating a unique Spring Festival spectacle.

1956 Wenchang coupon for five jin (2.5 kg.) of grain.

1957 coupon from Hainan District, Guangdong Province for one jin (0.5 kg) of grain. (Hainan Island was part of Guangdong Province until 1988.) (Photo: Hainan Museum)

At that time, buying Spring Festival goods cost 30-40 yuan, which was considered quite expensive! This was the largest annual expense for most average families. The happiness they brought to old and young alike? Priceless. For this generation, Spring Festival shopping brought both joy and basic sustenance to the table.

By the 1970s, Chinese society had undergone massive changes, and the way those born in the 70s and 80s prepared for CNY was also vastly different. The dining table began to overflow with abundance, and dish after dish of chicken, duck, pork, fruit, vegetables, candy, melon seeds, and other special Spring Festival treats had to be prepared, which meant lots of shopping to get ready!

The CNY atmosphere in Wenchang. (Photo: @一叽桃 Redbook account)

China’s annual Spring Festival Gala is ‘must-see tv’. The whole family gathers together to watch, and the evening’s jokes are repeated throughout the coming year. During those days, a color TV was a common Spring Festival purchase. For that generation, the keys to CNY were the simultaneous arrival of both material and spiritual wealth.

Previous generations gathered around to watch tv on black and white screens.

For those born in the 1990s and 2000s, CNY preparations have become more about experiences and less about tangible goods. To get ready, this generation is more likely to book a hot spring vacation for the whole family, carefully select the finest rainforest tea, and order a brand new smart tea maker.

Spring Festival holidaymakers at Betel Nut Valley, Hainan. (Photo: @panda Redbook account)

Born in the internet age and growing up during the era of rapid internet and e-commerce development, 1990s and 2000s babies prioritize ‘freeing up their hands and making things convenient for the whole family’ in their Spring Festival preparations.

In the past, going to the market was the highlight of the annual New Year's shopping trip. Eager shoppers would weave through crowded stalls, picking out a few strings of preserved sausages, a bundle of auspicious Spring Festival couplets, a few colorful door god paintings, and then lovingly choosing material to make new clothes for their children. Every item had to be carefully selected, and prices had to be compared and bargained down to rock bottom.

Now, geographical boundaries have been completely broken down by the internet and global shipping networks. With a few taps on a screen, Norwegian cod, Chilean cherries, and French red wine can cross mountains and seas to meet on the same table, sitting alongside local Hainan ‘white-cut’ chicken and veggie stew. The purchasing radius for New Year's goods has expanded from just the nearby village or city to the entire world.

The annual Flower Exchange Festival in Fucheng, Haikou. (Photo: @超色水的罢_ Redbook account)

There are only a few days left until Spring Festival begins... are you ready? What CNY goods have you already bought?

A very Hainanese CNY dinner. (Photo: @野生小魚干 Redbook account)