I am 80 years old now but I still enjoy folk toys. My parents were descendants of the Manchu aristocrats and it was them who aroused my interest in the toys, which have been my hobby to this day. During the 1930s, when I was about 10 years old, my family's standard of living remained comfortable although our purse strings had to be tightened. As a scholar, my father loved poems, articles, Beijing Opera and painting. From time to time, he would sponsor home recreational activities, during which there would be small performances of Beijing Opera (without makeup or costume) and painting or calligraphy competitions. Besides these activities, guests also loved to make small tables or cabinets with matchsticks, small paper kites or small clay Beijing Opera masks. I still remember how my father taught us to make clay steam-breads and kites and how we sisters learned from our mother how to sew cloth zongzi (glutinous rice dumpling), silk flowers, cloth figurines and tigers.
At that time, the warlords' fighting and the turbulent political situation didn't affect the quiet life of the Beijing people. Beijing Opera was still being performed in theaters and folk toys were still sold in lanes. Enclosed in a big courtyard, we were living a comfortable life and the variety and quality of folk toys developed. Additions to the toy market included clay figurines from Beijing Opera, a little thermal-engine mechanical boat, small iron stoves, woks and bowls (for little girls to play house with). They were all made with simple, low cost materials; so peddlers could earn money and ordinary people could afford to buy them.
