A winter wander down memory lane

Food shopping for Spring Festival is important in winter. Photo by Gao Erqiang/Shanghai Star

Growing up in a Shanghai lane house, Xu Xiaomin has warm memories of the city in the colder months. She offers you a glimpse into local families' lives in the 1980s.

In my memory, Shanghai winter in the 1980s is marked by a popping sound and a sweet, warm scent.

The noise and scent was from Shanghai-style popcorn, which was one of the few snacks available at that time. It was a very popular treat and it was only available in winter. Today, you will struggle to find Shanghai popcorn being sold on the street.

The popcorn seller was a wordless man in an over-sized coat of deep blue with fingernails as black as a coal miner. His job was to take rice or corn and put them into a black oven. He would roll the oven over the fire while us kids blocked our ears and waited from a distance for the exciting explosions. After the huge sound, he opened the oven and the snow-white puffed rice rolled out. It was the taste of happiness.

In the early 1980s, before the city had been gentrified, Shanghais winter was grey. Grey but warm. Most people, myself included, were living in narrow lanes houses where many homes in irregular shapes and sizes cut the sky into small pieces. One could rarely enjoy sunshine on winter days.