61 years ago today, on December 1, 1964 (October 28, 1964 in the lunar calendar), Beijing Friendship Store was established. The Friendship Store is a historical symbol. The carrier is the super-national courtesy given by China's leadership to diplomats stationed in China. The current eclipse of the Friendship Store is a blessing for China citizens. This change reflects the improvement of the status of the general public in China. This four-story commercial building was not located on Jianguomen Outer Street for a long time. The earliest prototype of the Friendship Store was continuously developed based on the "Foreign Friends Service Department" in Dongjiaomin Lane. In 1960, the "Overseas Chinese Personnel Service Department" was established in the department store. In 1962, the commodity department of Overseas Chinese Hotel established the "Overseas Chinese Store". In January 1962, the Foreign Friends Service Department, Overseas Chinese Personnel Service Department, and Overseas Chinese Store were integrated into "Beijing Department Store Supply Office". As a result, the number of countries establishing diplomatic relations with China continued to increase, and China's diplomatic status made a certain breakthrough. More than ten years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the first batch of bureaucratic classes were formed, and the Beijing Department Store Supply Office became a place to provide special supplies to foreigners, returned overseas Chinese, and privileged officials. On December 1, 1964, under Mr. Zhou's special care, the Beijing Department Store was named "Beijing Friendship Store". The Friendship Store at that time was operated at No. 25 Donghuamen Street. At the beginning of its establishment, the Friendship Store was not allowed by the general public, who were the "masters of the country". At that time, those who could enter the entrance of the Friendship Store required red aristocrats and their families who had reached a certain level of passport, overseas Chinese certificate, and foreign work permit (foreign expert). Following the gradual construction of the First Embassy District and Qijiayuan Diplomatic Apartment began in the late 1950s, and the Jianguomen Diplomatic Apartment was gradually built in the late 1960s. Most foreigners in Beijing concentrated in the Jianguomen Outer Street area. Mr. Zhou, who cared about foreigners, decided to move the Friendship Store from Donghuamen Street to Jianguomen Outer Street. The construction period of Friendship Store was 1971 to 1972, and the new building of Friendship Store was completed and opened on April 1, 1973. At this time, Beijing Friendship Store was a successful planning and design from a planning perspective. In the 1970s, Friendship Store was one of the supporting projects in the Embassy District at that time. On September 5, 1997, Beijing Xidan Shopping Mall Group (originally belonging to a commercial enterprise in Xicheng District and later assigned to a municipal enterprise under the name of Beijing City First Commercial Bureau) and Beijing Friendship Commercial Group merged in accordance with the requirements of the Beijing City State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to form Beijing Xidan Friendship Group. After the establishment of Xiyou Group, the new group has 20 subsidiaries, with revenue reaching 2.6 billion yuan and assets of 3 billion yuan in 2002. In my opinion, the history of Beijing Friendship Store is not a glorious history. Although it boasts that it has received 950 foreign heads of state and government, it has not allowed China taxpayers to enter it for nearly 30 years. It is a stain he will never erase. Extended reading: The story of the Friendship Store Extended reading: The story of the Friendship Store The special Friendship Store is a very symbolic symbol in the history of commerce and trade in New China. Once upon a time, being able to enter the Friendship Store for shopping was almost equivalent to a status symbol. If there are mysterious foreign exchange certificates that can be bought from Friendship Store such as popular items as TVs and watches, it will be even more envious of ordinary people. It was so aloof and isolated-its services were once limited to foreigners (including seafarers, tourists, diplomats, international students, etc.), overseas Chinese and senior cadres of the People's Republic of China; the goods sold were imported and supplied; the settlement method was foreign exchange and various exchange vouchers; the waiters required to speak foreign languages, especially English and Japanese. As early as May 1951, at the beginning of the founding of New China, the Central Ministry of Trade established high-end consumer goods stores in five cities: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenyang. Providing scarce materials and services to senior officials became one of them. One of the content, commonly known as "special supply", is to enjoy a special supply of tight and high-quality goods. Friendship Store is also a unique phenomenon derived from the special supply system, but it is mainly for foreign visitors. In 1964, Beijing Friendship Store opened at 25 Donghuamen Street. At that time, the slogan of Friendship Store was: "For all the goods on the market, we want the best here; We must have goods that are lacking in the market; we must also have goods that are popular in foreign countries!" This is not bragging at all. At that time, there was still a shortage of domestic goods, and everything you bought had to rely on tickets. The high iron fence outside the Friendship Store reflects the store's unusual identity and threshold. As soon as the store opened, the staff shook the key in their hands and opened the iron fence when customers lined up outside immediately swarmed in. In the history of Friendship Store, there has never been a shortage of senior leaders from China and foreign countries. Beijing Friendship Store was established under the instructions of Zhou Enlai and others. Qian Qichen, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme and other leaders have visited and inspected the Friendship Mall. U.S. President Nixon, the Iranian Princess, the King of Denmark, Prince Norodom Sihanouk and other foreign dignitaries have all been customers of the Friendship Store. Mission of Friendship Store As a special product of the era of socialist material supply shortage, Friendship Store has been given the economic task of obtaining more foreign exchange for the country since its inception. But the significance of political propaganda seems even more important. Take the Shanghai Friendship Store as an example. In October 1957, the Shanghai Seamen's Club stated in its report "Opinions on the Friendship Store under Establishment" that people should not feel that the Friendship Store is a purely commercial institution, but should "make international seafarers feel, especially China seafarers on foreign ships, feel the care that our party, country, and trade unions have for them." Therefore, it is necessary to avoid "openly exposing the purpose of fighting for foreign exchange." The National Day in 1959 became of great significance due to the arrival of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The new regime urgently needed to show the outside world the astonishing achievements it had made on the road of China socialism, so a large number of foreign guests were invited to visit China. Friendship Store is of course a key department responsible for receiving foreign guests. It can be seen from the report of Shanghai City Department Store that in order to complete this "glorious and arduous political task," Friendship Store requires ensuring the supply to foreign guests and stopping the internal supply of foreign trade export goods, goods with tight market supply and planned supply goods. At the same time, extremely careful arrangements have been made in terms of service attitude, product display and placement, environmental sanitation, security work, etc. It even suggested that business should be stopped for Shanghai citizens during the National Day and that it should be specially opened to foreign guests. Judging from the actual situation, the Shanghai Friendship Store did put a lot of effort into achieving the ideal political propaganda effect during its first large-scale reception task: "The watch of the head of the Bulgarian delegation was broken and it was ready in two hours; Albania friends wanted to buy snake leather shoes, but the Friendship Store did not have them, so they went from shoe stores to shop to find them. Sihanouk also went and thanked him personally: 'You made 5 sets of exquisite clothes for me in less than 24 hours. At such a fast speed, there is no second one in the world.' At least from the perspective of the host, these practices are all friendly actions related to the image of the country. Moreover, the dazzling array of goods is enough to prove to the foreign guests the great achievements of socialist construction and the prosperity of the people's lives. Therefore, no one seems to care about the economic costs behind this. Of course, as a product of the planned economy with a political aura, it is obvious that the Friendship Store cannot be simply measured by the standards of a for-profit commercial institution. From the perspective of the future, the positioning of the Friendship Store itself for political propaganda and profit-making will always be unclear. Although the General Provisions clearly stipulate that it is only open to foreign guests, it is an indisputable fact that Friendship Store has long provided special services to leaders at all levels, overseas visitors and Chinese seafarers working on ocean-going cargo ships. Even during the three-year difficult period, senior cadres often visited the various sales departments under the Friendship Store. In particular, most of the most popular goods at that time, such as watches and woolen fabrics, were purchased by internal guests (mainly cadres). Waiters in Friendship Store As the country's "door-to-door" Friendship Store does not have sloppy requirements for waiters. Because the service recipients are all foreign guests, the waiters are required to speak foreign languages, especially English and Japanese, and have a strong sense of service. Working in Friendship Store, the discipline is also very strict. Take the Friendship Store in Guangzhou as an example. No one is allowed to enter except the employees of the store. At that time, an employee's former boss (then division commander) visited his subordinates. The employee took his boss around the store casually without the consent of the leader (who was not present at the time). Afterwards, the leader scolded the employee severely. In addition, employees 'dress is also very strict. They must wear white work clothes, which are collected and washed by the unit for free. A beautiful girl surnamed Zhang from Beijing who wore a slightly fashionable dress at work was transferred from work a few days later. During the Cultural Revolution, due to the overall deterioration of China's diplomatic environment, it was inevitable that the number of foreigners accompanying tour groups to visit China in their private capacity would significantly decrease. In contrast, only a few government-level delegations had the opportunity to step into the door of the Friendship Store again. During this period, sales staff were required to have strong political quality and upright roots rather than skilled business and strong service awareness. Not only in Friendship Stores, but also in many organizations that deal with foreign guests, discordant incidents occur generally. Even whether to shine shoes or accept tips has become a problem. This situation is also common in the Friendship Store. General Jansen 'an, then Minister of Military Affairs and Armaments of Cambodia and Chairman of the Beijing Committee of the National United Front, came to make shirts. The salesperson stood at the counter to measure the size and blamed the foreign guests for standing incorrectly. Japanese foreign guest Miko Hayashi hoped that the salesperson would wipe the dust off the goods, but was ignored. However, due to the "iron rice bowl", even if it was complained many times by foreign guests, it did not cause much change. In 1971, the "Iranian Princess Incident" broke out that caused a sensation across the country. When receiving the Iranian princess, he was criticized by Premier Zhou for not doing a good job in reception services, which had a negative impact on diplomatic work. Afterwards, the superior rectified the Guangzhou Friendship. When Ms Chen Xiangmei led a delegation of Taiwan compatriots to visit the mainland in 1986, she made an appointment with her friends to go to the Friendship Store in Beijing City to buy goods. However, during the shopping process, she was treated very perfunctory and arrogant by the waiter. Chen Xiangmei recalled in her autobiography: "I chose the Friendship Store in Beijing. Only one friend and I went to the Friendship Store together. First, I want to buy some sweaters for the waitresses in Diaoyutai. The counter ladies (at Friendship Store) are all chewing melon seeds and chatting. When they see customers coming, they seem to be invisible, with an indifferent stepmother's face... The waiters are an iron rice bowl, and no one dares to correct them. In short, they ring the bell every day as a monk. I wonder how this attitude can compete with the capitalist market. "This" rigid "and" indifferent "service attitude is really a common problem and living specimen of state-owned stores in the era of planned economy! Friendship Store that steps down from the altar In the era of planned economy, Friendship Store was a place where foreigners could comfort themselves. At that time, they could buy imported red wine, shoes and food here that could not be found anywhere else. For ordinary people in China, the Friendship Store is a symbol of the privileges enjoyed by diplomats and foreigners, because the door of the Friendship Store has been closed to ordinary people for many years. This "Born with the Golden Key" shop has special significance to many people. Visiting the Friendship Store is a symbol of status, and buying some urgently needed goods with foreign exchange certificates is a capital for people to show off. For leaders of various countries visiting China, visiting the Friendship Store is almost a "reserved song" of their visit to China. Around the 1990s, or when foreign exchange certificates stopped being used, ordinary China people finally could enter the Friendship Store. According to data records, in 1991, when the openness of China's economy greatly increased, Beijing Friendship Store seemed to have broken through its last line of defense overnight and completed its "complete opening" to China people. In the 21st century, as various large shopping malls have mushroomed into the China market, Friendship Store is no longer the hot spot it used to be. Although the current Friendship Store still has the name of "Friendship", it has long lost its former glory. Old decoration, outdated goods, high prices, and indifferent service attitude are the most criticized problems and face the fate of being closed or acquired. References: Li Zhi's "The Story of Friendship Store", Liu Xiaochen's "The Dilemma Behind" Friendship ": Inspection of Shanghai Friendship Store in the Era of Planned Economy", Dayang News's "Guangzhou Friendship Store in the Past", Xinhuanet's "Friendship Store: Precious Memories" From the altar down, over the past 60 years, Friendship Store has not only reflected how a store has changed from "special" to "ordinary", but also reflected the context of a country's transition from a "planned economy" to a "market economy".61 years ago today, on December 1, 1964 (October 28, 1964 in the lunar calendar), Beijing Friendship Store was established. The Friendship Store is a historical symbol. The carrier is the super-national courtesy given by China's leadership to diplomats stationed in China. The current eclipse of the Friendship Store is a blessing for China citizens. This change reflects the improvement of the status of the general public in China. This four-story commercial building was not located on Jianguomen Outer Street for a long time. The earliest prototype of the Friendship Store was continuously developed based on the "Foreign Friends Service Department" in Dongjiaomin Lane. In 1960, the "Overseas Chinese Personnel Service Department" was established in the department store. In 1962, the commodity department of Overseas Chinese Hotel established the "Overseas Chinese Store". In January 1962, the Foreign Friends Service Department, Overseas Chinese Personnel Service Department, and Overseas Chinese Store were integrated into "Beijing Department Store Supply Office". As a result, the number of countries establishing diplomatic relations with China continued to increase, and China's diplomatic status made a certain breakthrough. More than ten years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the first batch of bureaucratic classes were formed, and the Beijing Department Store Supply Office became a place to provide special supplies to foreigners, returned overseas Chinese, and privileged officials. On December 1, 1964, under Mr. Zhou's special care, the Beijing Department Store was named "Beijing Friendship Store". The Friendship Store at that time was operated at No. 25 Donghuamen Street. At the beginning of its establishment, the Friendship Store was not allowed by the general public, who were the "masters of the country". At that time, those who could enter the entrance of the Friendship Store required red aristocrats and their families who had reached a certain level of passport, overseas Chinese certificate, and foreign work permit (foreign expert). Following the gradual construction of the First Embassy District and Qijiayuan Diplomatic Apartment began in the late 1950s, and the Jianguomen Diplomatic Apartment was gradually built in the late 1960s. Most foreigners in Beijing concentrated in the Jianguomen Outer Street area. Mr. Zhou, who cared about foreigners, decided to move the Friendship Store from Donghuamen Street to Jianguomen Outer Street. The construction period of Friendship Store was 1971 to 1972, and the new building of Friendship Store was completed and opened on April 1, 1973. At this time, Beijing Friendship Store was a successful planning and design from a planning perspective. In the 1970s, Friendship Store was one of the supporting projects in the Embassy District at that time. On September 5, 1997, Beijing Xidan Shopping Mall Group (originally belonging to a commercial enterprise in Xicheng District and later assigned to a municipal enterprise under the name of Beijing City First Commercial Bureau) and Beijing Friendship Commercial Group merged in accordance with the requirements of the Beijing City State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission to form Beijing Xidan Friendship Group. After the establishment of Xiyou Group, the new group has 20 subsidiaries, with revenue reaching 2.6 billion yuan and assets of 3 billion yuan in 2002. In my opinion, the history of Beijing Friendship Store is not a glorious history. Although it boasts that it has received 950 foreign heads of state and government, it has not allowed China taxpayers to enter it for nearly 30 years. It is a stain he will never erase. Extended reading: The story of the Friendship Store Extended reading: The story of the Friendship Store The special Friendship Store is a very symbolic symbol in the history of commerce and trade in New China. Once upon a time, being able to enter the Friendship Store for shopping was almost equivalent to a status symbol. If there are mysterious foreign exchange certificates that can be bought from Friendship Store such as popular items as TVs and watches, it will be even more envious of ordinary people. It was so aloof and isolated-its services were once limited to foreigners (including seafarers, tourists, diplomats, international students, etc.), overseas Chinese and senior cadres of the People's Republic of China; the goods sold were imported and supplied; the settlement method was foreign exchange and various exchange vouchers; the waiters required to speak foreign languages, especially English and Japanese. As early as May 1951, at the beginning of the founding of New China, the Central Ministry of Trade established high-end consumer goods stores in five cities: Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenyang. Providing scarce materials and services to senior officials became one of them. One of the content, commonly known as "special supply", is to enjoy a special supply of tight and high-quality goods. Friendship Store is also a unique phenomenon derived from the special supply system, but it is mainly for foreign visitors. In 1964, Beijing Friendship Store opened at 25 Donghuamen Street. At that time, the slogan of Friendship Store was: "For all the goods on the market, we want the best here; We must have goods that are lacking in the market; we must also have goods that are popular in foreign countries!" This is not bragging at all. At that time, there was still a shortage of domestic goods, and everything you bought had to rely on tickets. The high iron fence outside the Friendship Store reflects the store's unusual identity and threshold. As soon as the store opened, the staff shook the key in their hands and opened the iron fence when customers lined up outside immediately swarmed in. In the history of Friendship Store, there has never been a shortage of senior leaders from China and foreign countries. Beijing Friendship Store was established under the instructions of Zhou Enlai and others. Qian Qichen, Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme and other leaders have visited and inspected the Friendship Mall. U.S. President Nixon, the Iranian Princess, the King of Denmark, Prince Norodom Sihanouk and other foreign dignitaries have all been customers of the Friendship Store. Mission of Friendship Store As a special product of the era of socialist material supply shortage, Friendship Store has been given the economic task of obtaining more foreign exchange for the country since its inception. But the significance of political propaganda seems even more important. Take the Shanghai Friendship Store as an example. In October 1957, the Shanghai Seamen's Club stated in its report "Opinions on the Friendship Store under Establishment" that people should not feel that the Friendship Store is a purely commercial institution, but should "make international seafarers feel, especially China seafarers on foreign ships, feel the care that our party, country, and trade unions have for them." Therefore, it is necessary to avoid "openly exposing the purpose of fighting for foreign exchange." The National Day in 1959 became of great significance due to the arrival of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The new regime urgently needed to show the outside world the astonishing achievements it had made on the road of China socialism, so a large number of foreign guests were invited to visit China. Friendship Store is of course a key department responsible for receiving foreign guests. It can be seen from the report of Shanghai City Department Store that in order to complete this "glorious and arduous political task," Friendship Store requires ensuring the supply to foreign guests and stopping the internal supply of foreign trade export goods, goods with tight market supply and planned supply goods. At the same time, extremely careful arrangements have been made in terms of service attitude, product display and placement, environmental sanitation, security work, etc. It even suggested that business should be stopped for Shanghai citizens during the National Day and that it should be specially opened to foreign guests. Judging from the actual situation, the Shanghai Friendship Store did put a lot of effort into achieving the ideal political propaganda effect during its first large-scale reception task: "The watch of the head of the Bulgarian delegation was broken and it was ready in two hours; Albania friends wanted to buy snake leather shoes, but the Friendship Store did not have them, so they went from shoe stores to shop to find them. Sihanouk also went and thanked him personally: 'You made 5 sets of exquisite clothes for me in less than 24 hours. At such a fast speed, there is no second one in the world.' At least from the perspective of the host, these practices are all friendly actions related to the image of the country. Moreover, the dazzling array of goods is enough to prove to the foreign guests the great achievements of socialist construction and the prosperity of the people's lives. Therefore, no one seems to care about the economic costs behind this. Of course, as a product of the planned economy with a political aura, it is obvious that the Friendship Store cannot be simply measured by the standards of a for-profit commercial institution. From the perspective of the future, the positioning of the Friendship Store itself for political propaganda and profit-making will always be unclear. Although the General Provisions clearly stipulate that it is only open to foreign guests, it is an indisputable fact that Friendship Store has long provided special services to leaders at all levels, overseas visitors and Chinese seafarers working on ocean-going cargo ships. Even during the three-year difficult period, senior cadres often visited the various sales departments under the Friendship Store. In particular, most of the most popular goods at that time, such as watches and woolen fabrics, were purchased by internal guests (mainly cadres). Waiters in Friendship Store As the country's "door-to-door" Friendship Store does not have sloppy requirements for waiters. Because the service recipients are all foreign guests, the waiters are required to speak foreign languages, especially English and Japanese, and have a strong sense of service. Working in Friendship Store, the discipline is also very strict. Take the Friendship Store in Guangzhou as an example. No one is allowed to enter except the employees of the store. At that time, an employee's former boss (then division commander) visited his subordinates. The employee took his boss around the store casually without the consent of the leader (who was not present at the time). Afterwards, the leader scolded the employee severely. In addition, employees 'dress is also very strict. They must wear white work clothes, which are collected and washed by the unit for free. A beautiful girl surnamed Zhang from Beijing who wore a slightly fashionable dress at work was transferred from work a few days later. During the Cultural Revolution, due to the overall deterioration of China's diplomatic environment, it was inevitable that the number of foreigners accompanying tour groups to visit China in their private capacity would significantly decrease. In contrast, only a few government-level delegations had the opportunity to step into the door of the Friendship Store again. During this period, sales staff were required to have strong political quality and upright roots rather than skilled business and strong service awareness. Not only in Friendship Stores, but also in many organizations that deal with foreign guests, discordant incidents occur generally. Even whether to shine shoes or accept tips has become a problem. This situation is also common in the Friendship Store. General Jansen 'an, then Minister of Military Affairs and Armaments of Cambodia and Chairman of the Beijing Committee of the National United Front, came to make shirts. The salesperson stood at the counter to measure the size and blamed the foreign guests for standing incorrectly. Japanese foreign guest Miko Hayashi hoped that the salesperson would wipe the dust off the goods, but was ignored. However, due to the "iron rice bowl", even if it was complained many times by foreign guests, it did not cause much change. In 1971, the "Iranian Princess Incident" broke out that caused a sensation across the country. When receiving the Iranian princess, he was criticized by Premier Zhou for not doing a good job in reception services, which had a negative impact on diplomatic work. Afterwards, the superior rectified the Guangzhou Friendship. When Ms Chen Xiangmei led a delegation of Taiwan compatriots to visit the mainland in 1986, she made an appointment with her friends to go to the Friendship Store in Beijing City to buy goods. However, during the shopping process, she was treated very perfunctory and arrogant by the waiter. Chen Xiangmei recalled in her autobiography: "I chose the Friendship Store in Beijing. Only one friend and I went to the Friendship Store together. First, I want to buy some sweaters for the waitresses in Diaoyutai. The counter ladies (at Friendship Store) are all chewing melon seeds and chatting. When they see customers coming, they seem to be invisible, with an indifferent stepmother's face... The waiters are an iron rice bowl, and no one dares to correct them. In short, they ring the bell every day as a monk. I wonder how this attitude can compete with the capitalist market. "This" rigid "and" indifferent "service attitude is really a common problem and living specimen of state-owned stores in the era of planned economy! Friendship Store that steps down from the altar In the era of planned economy, Friendship Store was a place where foreigners could comfort themselves. At that time, they could buy imported red wine, shoes and food here that could not be found anywhere else. For ordinary people in China, the Friendship Store is a symbol of the privileges enjoyed by diplomats and foreigners, because the door of the Friendship Store has been closed to ordinary people for many years. This "Born with the Golden Key" shop has special significance to many people. Visiting the Friendship Store is a symbol of status, and buying some urgently needed goods with foreign exchange certificates is a capital for people to show off. For leaders of various countries visiting China, visiting the Friendship Store is almost a "reserved song" of their visit to China. Around the 1990s, or when foreign exchange certificates stopped being used, ordinary China people finally could enter the Friendship Store. According to data records, in 1991, when the openness of China's economy greatly increased, Beijing Friendship Store seemed to have broken through its last line of defense overnight and completed its "complete opening" to China people. In the 21st century, as various large shopping malls have mushroomed into the China market, Friendship Store is no longer the hot spot it used to be. Although the current Friendship Store still has the name of "Friendship", it has long lost its former glory. Old decoration, outdated goods, high prices, and indifferent service attitude are the most criticized problems and face the fate of being closed or acquired. References: Li Zhi's "The Story of Friendship Store", Liu Xiaochen's "The Dilemma Behind" Friendship ": Inspection of Shanghai Friendship Store in the Era of Planned Economy", Dayang News's "Guangzhou Friendship Store in the Past", Xinhuanet's "Friendship Store: Precious Memories" From the altar down, over the past 60 years, Friendship Store has not only reflected how a store has changed from "special" to "ordinary", but also reflected the context of a country's transition from a "planned economy" to a "market economy".