By the end of the 1930x, I was over 20 years old. The Japanese invaders engaged in a full-scale war against China and occupied Beijing (then known as Beiping). Despite the troubles, Beijingers still celebrated their traditional holidays. In his famous novel, Four Generations Under One Roof, Lao She describes how children still played with their toys despite the chaos all around them: "In May, children play with the silk zongzi that the young mistress made for them, play with lotus lanterns in July and the clay rabbits that grandfather bought them in August."
It shows that tradition continued regardless of the vast changes to society. Beijing's traditional folk toys were still sold by street vendors in lanes and children were still seen playing with the seasonal toys of their own nations, instead of the Japanese toys. During the latter period of the Anti-Japanese War, the Japanese aggressors killed Chinese people and extorted money and property from them. Beijingers found it hard to maintain even the lowest standard of living. The veteran toy makers from southeastern Beijing, gave up their old trade and went to pull rick-shawl or sell roasted sweet potatoes.
