In the 1970s and 1980s, a type of strings without packaging was sold in the musical instrument shops in Hong Kong. They were typically tied with a coloured thread at the head. The coloured thread was usually in green, but was sometimes in different colours for different strings. The strings were in different thickness, but there was no information sheet or spare strings. The strings were simply placed in transparent plastic bags. Some would call them “jin xian” (strings from Tianjin). The strings were fairly good in quality but were only sold for a short time. Later they could no longer be found on the market.