This Day, That Year

Editor's note: This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up policy.

In the 1990s, services, such as door-to-door sales, TV shopping and radio shopping were springing up around the country.

The item from Aug 1, 1993, in China Daily showed primary school students enjoying free drinks at McDonald's in downtown Beijing. The fast-food outlet had offered gifts, from coupons to bicy-cles, as a sales gimmick.