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The stores sold western, imported items, such as peanut butter and Hershey Bar s, as well as Chinese art and crafts. The prices were considerably higher than market prices in the country of origin, but as the stores operated as a Monopoly for imported items, buyers had no other choice. Items for sale also included uncensored copies of Western literature such as '' The New York Times '', and hence guards prevented anyone of Chinese appearance from entering. Often crowds of people would look in the door to see what was for sale. HISTORY The stores were state-owned and were started in major cities as a sign of friendship when China first opened to the outside world, in the late 1970s . The old friendship stores only accepted FECs or Foreign Exchange Certificates as currency. A few stores remain open, especially in Beijing and Shanghai , as a relic of the past. Most closed with the introduction of Capitalism . MODERN FRIENDSHIP STORES The Beijing store has a Starbucks , Baskin-Robbins , Délifrance , Pizza Hut , and a bookshop which stocks a wide range of English-language magazines and newspapers (which are still not widely available in China). Recently, it has been announced that the site is to be redeveloped, with the friendship store being replaced by a more modern Shopping Center , offices and a Conrad hotel. The new complex is planned to be finished before the 2008 Beijing Olympics . There are also two friendship stores in Shanghai , one in the city center and one in Hongqiao . SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS REFERENCES
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