THE Futian Agricultural Products Wholesale Market, the largest of its kind in Futian District, began its Chinese New Year’s Shopping Festival on Saturday. Customers will be able to find a wide range of items including nutritious products, fresh fruits and vegetables, and Spring Festival special products in the market.

The first floor includes stalls offering specialties from Northeast China, meeting the demand of visitors searching for northern flavors. The shopkeeper from one stall has fresh silkworm chrysalises and frozen pears on display — both unique offerings from Harbin, the capital city of Heilongjiang Province. On the second floor, carriages that have various themed ingredients from eastern and southern China are in place, with products from more than 130 selected outstanding merchants.

During the Spring Festival, sufficient supplies and stable prices are guaranteed for the market’s key commodities. The average incoming daily volume of goods is expected to reach 3,500 tons, including 1,000 tons of vegetables, 800 tons of fruits, 1,000 tons of pork, beef, and mutton, 150 tons of poultry and eggs, 30 tons of aquatic products, and 1,500 tons of grains, oils, dry goods, and seasonings.

In addition, for Hong Kong residents, the market has implemented measures to facilitate and enhance their shopping experience. Visitors from Hong Kong can go cashless and use Alipay to finish transactions based on a real-time currency exchange rate, and the purchases can be delivered cross-border unconditionally.

Also, shuttle services between Futian Checkpoint and the market will operate until Thursday. Service hours are 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. for checkpoint departures and 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. for market departures, with an interval of 20 minutes.

(Chen Siqi)