Interview with Liu Guiying

Liu Guiying (b. 1941) got married and moved to Shaziying Village, Yang Town, Shunyi District, Beijing in 1961. In this interview Liu recalls the life during the Great Famine. While eating at the communal canteen, once in Xiaodian Village, someone took a pack of white powder and asked people to sprinkle it on their buns. It turned out to be some kind of poison and many people got sick and were sent to the hospital. Because of poverty, those days people would try all kinds of ways to make a little bit more money. Liu's dad used to sell little handmade gongs made of willow branches. Liu's husband did carpentry work at the production team to earn extra money. Some people traded the assigned oil for money.

刘桂英1941年出生，1961年嫁到北京市顺义区杨镇沙子营。在这段口述中，刘老人回忆了大饥荒时期的生活。吃食堂的时候有次小店大队有人拿了一包白面让大家搁在饽饽上吃，结果那是信金（一种毒药），好多人因此中毒住院。当时生活贫穷，大家想尽办法挣钱，刘老人的爸爸用柳条编成小锣拿出去卖，刘老人的丈夫在生产队里做木工挣一点钱，还有的人把发的油料卖了换点钱。

Transcripts for this interview and more may be available under the ‘Documents’ link above. 采访抄录和相关内容，请点击查看上面的’Documents’链接。