Nowadays, cafes and tea houses can be seen everywhere, and they have long become places for people to rest every day.
A cup of milk tea for more than twenty pieces, a cup of coffee for thirty years, such a place and drink pricing, is very different from before. In the early years of the theater, a few cents, a few cents can watch a 1-2 hour play.
At present, there are dozens of theater tickets, and those who do not have tickets cannot enter the venue.
As we all know, the mainland is a famous tea country in history, compared with the prevalence of milk tea, coffee and other drinks today, the original taste of tea, more reflects the history of the mainland.
In the past, tea was really cheap enough to make people "stunned" today.
For two cents, you can drink a bowl of hot tea, and the place where you drink tea is not elsewhere, or a mysterious place in the history of the mainland - Zhongnanhai.
This former royal garden became the seat of the state apparatus and the residence of China's top leaders in 1949.
Although Zhongnanhai is a place where state leaders work and live in extreme secrecy, the reality of Zhongnanhai is very simple and arduous.
At that time, Zhongnanhai had unwritten rules: meetings and tea were two cents, and the leaders who watched movies on weekends did not have special seats, and they were treated equally.
Let's step into the real lives of our leaders and see how they contribute to China.
That's because our leaders, adhering to the concept of frugality and moderation, do not waste extravagantly, and live a life in Zhongnanhai that is no different from ordinary people.
There are iron regulations such as "meeting to drink tea and pay two cents" and "no special seats for weekend movie tickets". It has been implemented in Zhongnanhai since 1978.
Meeting to drink tea and pay two cents, no one has the privilege. Zhongnanhai holds countless daily meetings, and every meeting is held to drink water and add tea money.
It was not a small sum, and in the long run it was a burden on the finances of the country at that time. Therefore, there is a "strange rule" in Zhongnanhai, that is, it costs two cents to drink tea at a meeting, and each person pays for it out of his own pocket.
This provision was proposed by Premier Zhou at a meeting of the Politburo in 1958.
This proposal was supported by many people, and our great Chairman Mao set an example by taking the lead in paying the first tea fee, and the rules have been observed for a long time ever since.
On the days when the regulations are implemented, some innocuous "embarrassing incidents" often occur.
The most typical example of "tea forgetting to bring money" is our vice premier Chen Yun.
At a meeting of the CPC Central Committee, Vice President Chen habitually asked the waiter for a cup of tea, and when the waiter added tea to the cup, Chen Yun suddenly realized that this tea would be charged.
Dig into your own pocket to realize that you haven't brought a penny. At the moment, I'm sorry. I had to awkwardly borrow two cents from my secretary to pay for the "tea fee". After that, the two cents were returned to the secretary in time.
Among the early leaders of the mainland, drinking tea as water and paying the most for tea and water is well deservedly ours -- Chairman Mao.
As we all know, Chairman Mao had two major hobbies. Drinking tea is one of them. In addition to drinking strong tea, Chairman Mao also liked to "eat" the tea leaves.
In the past, when drinking tea was free, Chairman Mao's expenditure on tea was already among the best in Zhongnanhai. I often drink tea and unconsciously sweep the tea leaves in the cup.
After the rules for charging tea were down, Chairman Mao's expenditure on tea increased without decreasing.
Many times, Chairman Mao would summon everyone to a meeting at his residence in Juxiang Bookstore. Tea was naturally drunk at the congress, and the tea expenses incurred at the meeting at Chairman Mao's residence were naturally paid for by Chairman Mao.
Chairman Mao drank up to one pound of tea a month; in many cases, there were even two pounds, plus occasionally "inviting" everyone to drink tea, Chairman Mao spent as much as thirty yuan a month on tea, and the expenditure on tea was one-tenth of his salary!
Zhongnanhai's "drinking tea for two cents" rule has made leaders slowly get used to it, and even extended the habit to other places.
When the waiter brought tea at a meeting, Zhou Enlai took the initiative to pay for it, which really frightened the waiter. So, Zhou Enlai patiently explained to the waiter,
Zhongnanhai has an iron rule "tea charge" is its tradition. The proposal and implementation of this rule was confirmed by Premier Zhou himself, and it is natural to take the lead in abiding by it.
The fact that leaders spend money on tea is enough to shock people. With the development of the mainland economy, the price level has improved. The cost of tea and water has made many old cadres reluctant to spend.
After "tea" became a "luxury" expense, the old cadres only drank free boiled water to solve the problem.
Although this strange rule is not a big decision, it can be seen from this small matter that the leaders of the mainland do not seek selfish interests and set an example. As a national officer, he thinks about the country everywhere and opens up and reduces expenditure.
Always live the same life as the people, adhere to the spirit of sharing weal and woe with the people.
In zhongnanzhong, in addition to the strange rule of two cents for meetings and drinking tea, there is another provision, that is, "you need to pay for movies on weekends, there is no special seat, and you are treated equally."
Weekend movies to buy tickets, no special seats. In that era, the stress was alleviated, and the way of entertainment was different from that of today. In the era of no mobile phones and computers. The leaders used the way of watching movies to alleviate it.
Few people know that in Zhongnanhai, there is a small auditorium. In addition to the daily meeting use of this auditorium, on weekends, the auditorium will be "dressed up" as a "cinema" to show films for everyone.
The rules for showing the film were set by Premier Zhou at the time. The conference room will be played to one or two movies a week, focusing on domestic films, and occasionally playing British, American and Soviet films.
As long as people who come to see the movie, they have to buy tickets out of their own pockets. In addition to the people who play the film, whether it is the chairman or ordinary people, there is no exception. Generally ordinary movies two cents a piece,
When it comes to movies with a particularly long time or a set of films, the ticket price is three cents a piece, and the price of the movie ticket is as flat as possible with the market price.
In the 1960s, Chairman Mao did not often watch movies. On the contrary, Comrade Liu Shaoqi became a regular guest in the theater. Premier Zhou also occasionally came to join in the fun. But Premier Zhou is very focused, hoping that leaders can "understand the world through movies.".
For example, after the film related to the US moon landing was broadcast in 1969, Zhou Enlai immediately invited important leaders of various departments to watch the film.
Before the screening, he made a short speech: "I invite you to watch this film today, mainly because I hope you understand what level of scientific and technological development in the world has reached... China's bitter lesson tells us that backwardness means suffering losses. ”
The leaders who watched the film were greatly encouraged to be more proactive and courageous in their future work.
Our Chairman Mao slowly fell in love with movies in his later years.
According to the recollections of the theater staff, Chairman Mao's favorite thing to watch was biographical films, as well as some idyllic films.
The life of the people in Zhongnanhai, because of this small cinema, has many different colors. At the same time, it broadens the horizons, and the small theater provides new hobbies for everyone, which is really a beautiful and rich initiative.
Looking back at the anecdotes in Zhongnanhai, it is more for us to see that the early leaders of the mainland built and maintained a good new China.
Everyone stuck to their posts, struggled in the difficult years, and had a great spirit of selfless dedication. Their incorruptibility and introspection, and even the "iron-blooded indifference" of the payment rules, are to always remind the world and warn Chinese officials that no matter what era, "do not take advantage of the people's penny."
Today's China is getting stronger and stronger, and we must remember the painstaking efforts of the older generation and carry forward their spirit of selfless dedication. Remember the original intention, do not forget the mission. For the country, for the people's livelihood, do our best.
I hope that our generation will take it as its duty to protect the country, carry forward the revolutionary spirit of the leaders of the older generation, carry forward the great national righteousness, and strive for China's innovation and development.
Let us bring greater achievements to Chinese-style innovation, unite as one, and open a new chapter of brilliance for wanshi.