A likely new round inflation is making economical shoppers in China change their buying habits. [Full coverage: Price hike]
While waiting at Hong Kong's Sheung Shui railway station for the train back to Shenzhen, only a stone's throw to the north, Xiao Wen is discussing her trophies with her husband on the phone.
"What a harvest! I need a bigger cart next time," said Wen, speaking loudly, a smile on her face.
Inside the cart in front of her are not luxury or imported cosmetics, which are usually a favorite for mainland tourists to Hong Kong. Instead, the cart is full of food items and other articles for daily use.
"There is no other choice," said the young housewife. "Prices in Shenzhen rise so fast and quite a lot of stuff is cheaper in Hong Kong."
A pack of salt is priced at 2 yuan (30 US cents) in Shenzhen, but only costs 1.1 HK dollars or 0.9 yuan in Hong Kong. The price of apples, eggs, toilet paper and shampoo are also cheaper in Hong Kong, Wen said.
"If I buy enough at once, I can save quite a lot of money, even with the return tickets of 40 yuan," she said.
With her multiple-entry visa, Wen now goes to Hong Kong at least once every month, shopping mostly for items for daily use.
She is not the only one shopping in Hong Kong. Many of her friends do the same, buying sugar, salt, soybean sauce and even dental floss in bulk.
Ironically, only a few years ago it was Hong Kong residents who would come to Shenzhen to spend weekends shopping and dining.
A price monitoring survey released by the country's top economic planner showed that food prices have risen across the board in October.
Also, prices of 24 out of 31 food items monitored in 36 cities in October have risen from the previous month, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
Before the prices really come down, those mainland shoppers who can not visit Hong Kong as Wen does have to find other ways to save.
Zhang Yiyuan, from Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, goes to the supermarket more often these days. He bought four barrels of cooking oil last Saturday and five packs of sugar the next day.
"I heard that prices of these items are going up, so I bought some for myself and for my parents," Zhang said.
Stocking-up is not rare in China. In 1998, when the country was in a period of high inflation, people were swarming into stores to buy in bulk for fear of price jumps.
Other shoppers, however, resorted to group buying as a way of securing discounts.
Group buying is currently so popular that websites providing such kinds of services are mushrooming overnight.
China only had around 100 group buying sites in March this year, but 1,215 had been registered by the end of August, statistics show.
