Life of Guangzhou - Tuning in to The History of Radios

Yan's collection fills 3 rooms (Guangzhou Daily)

There are three rooms in Yan Zhenhua's house filled with radios; over 3,000 in all, dating back from the Republic of China (1912-1949) until the early days of the country's reform and opening-up (1980s). Yan is a know-it-all when it comes to radios. He can speak for hours about the history, production area and specificity of each machine.

"During the 1970s when I was in primary school, there were many small repair shops for radios," says Yan. "I became acquainted with an old man who was a skillful radio repairman." Later, the little boy chose to study radio and make it his profession.

Valve radio produced during the Republic of China (1912-1949) (Guangzhou Daily)

Some of his collections are limited editions like the Hongqi (Red Flag) 601 transistor radio. The Mudan (Peony) 6204A and Xiongmao (Panda) 601 were valve radios and were even sent by state leaders to foreign dignitaries at that time.

"Owning a bicycle, a watch and a radio was a symbol of a better life to most families in China in the early 1980s. And in the 1950s, only rich officials could own radios. Later, in the middle of the 1970s, Hongdeng (Red Lamp) radios were available in some big cities but there were long queues of people waiting to purchase one. In those years, many people assembled radio themselves. It wasn't a common device in households until 1980."

Transistor radios became popular in the 1980s (Guangzhou Daily)

In order to restore the radios in his collection, he even went searching for spare parts in Shanghai and Nanjing, which were the original manufacturing bases for most Chinese radios. Today when asked which one is his favorite, Yan replies "All."

(By Carrot Chan, David Keyton)