(Photo: Xinhua)

Sitting in a leather armchair in a living room decorated with wooden furniture, a black-and-white TV, and a stand fan, Li Furong excitedly asked her husband to come over and take a photo together.

"This is exactly what our home looked like in the 1980s," said Li, 62, a retired civil servant from Beijing.

The specially designed room was part of the ongoing exhibition in the National Museum of China to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening-up.

Li, who now owns smart LED TV, said the exhibition reminded her of the old days when she used a coupon to buy almost everything, including a TV.

"You had to ask those who came back from abroad to borrow their TV coupon. It was a big deal to have a black-and-white TV set at home," Li said.

China's reform and opening-up during the past 40 years has changed the lives of many.

In 1981, only one out of every 170 urban households in China had a color television. As China started to open its doors to foreign manufacturers, a TV, a refrigerator and a washing machine gradually became a "must-have" home appliances set for a typical middle-class family.

At the exhibition, a chart showed the significant improvement in people's lives. Per capita disposable income increased from 171 yuan (about 25 U.S. dollars) in 1978 to 25,974 yuan in 2017, while the rural population under the poverty line decreased from 770 million in 1978 to about 30 million by the end of 2017.

More visible change was also on display. At the exhibition, a smart refrigerator attracted a crowd. The refrigerator, produced by China's major home appliance maker Haier, is connected to the Internet and is considered one of the most advanced models in the world.

Li said the contrast between the lives today and four decades ago was remarkable.

"It's always nice to have such an exhibition to remind us of the old days," Li said.