Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, China has undergone tremendous social and economic changes, evolving from a poor and backward agricultural country to one of the world's largest economies. Accordingly, this exhibition is launched to commemorate this transitional period. A total of 191 objects showcasing the social changes have been carefully selected, which clearly define three different historical periods: “Life in New China (1951-1966)”, “Exploration and Progress (1966-1978)”, and “Era of Change (1978-1996)”. By means of reproducing the past scenes, the enamel utensils with old photos and videos represent the second half of the 20th century, when Shaanxi people struggled along with all the people in China during the turbulent years full of bitter, spicy, sweet and sour experiences, which have been imprinted on the memory of the local audience who experienced it firsthand.
The exhibition is part of the program “Specialized Collection of Evidence on Economic and Social Development” since 2015, with nearly 5,000 collected relevant objects used in the 20th century, such as certificates, coupons, daily necessities, industrial or electronic products, and two published research books: Songs of the Years – an Illustrated Catalog of Evidence on the Economic and Social Development in Shaanxi since the Republic of China and Time Scale – an Illustrated Catalog of the Enamel Ware in Shaanxi History Museum.