A Child's Reminiscence: Two Mao Can Buy Two Sticks of Qinzhou's Delicacy, a 80s Nostalgic Memory

Everyone has a childhood, but we shouldn't forget this kind of food. What we loved to eat as children, back then two mao (approximately $0.20) per stick. Now, we don't know it anymore. But it has always been a memory of our 80s childhood—'Ma Tong'.

We call it 'Ma Tong' in our hometown of Qinzhou. Actually, its original name is Kangleguo.

Kangleguo was a cheap puffed snack that was popular in mainland China in the 1980s and early 1990s. Kangleguo is generally made from corn, and the finished product is pale yellow and fluffy and crispy. Because Kangleguo can be directly processed into finished products by machines, and the corn yield in Northern China is high, Kangleguo was cheap, and it was a popular snack for children in the 1990s.

When I was a kid, two sticks of Ma Tong for one mao was something I could brag about all day.

Now, I only occasionally see simple processing equipment used to make Ma Tong on the streets of rural towns, with two workers completing the entire processing procedure. Now, it's only a matter of luck to taste this delicious food. The food of 80s generation is gradually becoming a memory.

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