With the Spring Festival only three days away, food prices at local wet markets and supermarkets have risen noticeably - a not un-common event in the lead up to this biggest Chinese holiday.

The price hikes are not deterring shoppers, however, as retail sales during the last few days rose by 30 percent over a few weeks ago.

This year, the lunar New Year Eve will fall on Friday. Since there's only a few shopping days left before the most important Chinese festival, people are busy purchasing food and gifts, while retailers are enjoying the busy season.

Prices of vegetables and aquatic products increased by 10 to 20 percent at local wet markets, while those of poultry and pork have remained unchanged, officials said.

"Because of the sudden temperature drop, prices of locally produced vegetables have increased by 20 percent. But vegetables from other provinces like Hainan and Fujian have helped stabilize the local market," said Wang Xinkang, manager of the vegetable department of Shanghai Cao'an Road Agricultural Food Market, the city's largest vegetable wholesale market.

He said the daily supply of vegetables in the market remains around 1,000 tons at present. Moreover, the price is expected to further increase during the first three days of the festival because some vegetable retailers will go back to their hometowns to celebrate the holiday.

Many shoppers have their own way of dealing with the price hikes.

"Usually, I will buy some food that won't go rotten easily several days before the holiday, such as the bamboo shoots and tomatoes," said Zhou Pingguang, a housewife. "But even in this period the retail price of bamboo shoots has surged by 25 percent."

That strategy doesn't work for aquatic products, however, as they must be bought fresh.

Yang Jihua, sales manager of Shanghai Tongchuan Road Aquatic Products Market, said the general price of aquatic products has increased by 10 percent in recent days, while prices of hairy crabs dropped 10 percent because of increased supply.

Shrimps, a local favorite, will become especially expensive during the holiday due to the limited supply. The black tiger shrimp, for example, is priced at 100 yuan (US$12) per kilogram, up 40 percent from nor-mal, and the price may jump to 140 yuan during the festival.

(eastday.com January 29, 2003)