Many brands from other provinces in China have become Shanghai consumers'new favorites.

In the Hualian Supermarket,one of the largest supermarket chains in Shanghai,up to 70percent of the dumplings sold were under the brand names of the enterprises headquartered in Taiwan,Beijing,Hong Kong or other provinces.Only 30percent dumplings were still made by Xinya,Yuyuan and Qiaolaoye brands,three local vintage brands.

"Longfeng Dumplings sells best these days in our supermarket,"Yang,a salesperson with Hualian said.He supported his words with even more detailed figures.

"We sell 500to 600cartons of Longfeng Dumplings each day,"he added.

In Lianhua Supermarket,another local big chainstore,the best seller was the Wanzaimatou,or Wanzai Harbor,Dumplings.The brand,headquartered in Hong Kong,became famous initially with its tasty meat-filled Beijing flavor dumplings.Data from the two supermarket chains also indicate that another brand,Sanquanlin of Henan Province also nabs a considerable portion on the local market for its lower price.

Consumers said they love these brands because their products taste better,and there are more varieties in these brands.The original place of the production,and where the brand is based,are no longer their chief concerns.

Most of these brands that sell good in Shanghai have also set up their own production bases in the city.

Wanzaimatou,for example,has opened large works in Pudong to make the dumplings locally and to lower the prices ever more.

(Shanghai Daily February 27, 2002)