VENDORS at a wet market in Overseas Chinese Town (OCT) have learned to speak foreign languages after the market was listed as a scenic spot on a one-day tour of Shenzhen and more foreign visitors stop by.

Business is brisk at the market, although a Wal-Mart store is located nearby. Legions of shoppers come and go, making the market a lively place where buyers bargain with sellers, hoping to get away with the lowest prices and the best fruit and vegetables.

“Tomatoes? Three yuan,” a stall owner called out in English.

As well as visitors, expatriates living near the wet market are also among the regular patrons as the market is clean and well managed.

“This market is under strict supervision and clean everywhere,” said Tang Ling, a stall owner. “Foreigners, especially South Koreans and Japanese, come to visit every week. An Australian bought a radish from me last week.”

Tang said her fellow vendors started to buy video tapes to learn to speak foreign languages after seeing so many foreigners frequent the market. “Now many of them can communicate with customers using Korean, Japanese and English.”

Led by a tour guide waving a small flag, more than 20 South Korean tourists spent 15 minutes in the market Monday morning. When they passed a grocery store selling rice, grain, oil and sauces, the store owner surnamed Zeng told them in Korean about a Shenzhen-made soy sauce. Amazed to see a grocer speaking their language, the tourists couldn’t help expressing their admiration.

The OCT wet market is one of two places in Shenzhen chosen by the municipal tourism bureau to showcase local life to visitors to the city. The other is Xiasha Village in Futian District.

Like Shekou, OCT is home to a large number of expatriates.

“Many countries around the world do not have wet markets,” said a department chief with China Travel Service of OCT who was known by his last name Zhu. “People there have to buy vegetables and meat at supermarkets and the OCT wet market is definitely something new to them and therefore will impress them in a very positive way.”

The OCT wet market is unlike any of the traditional farm produce markets which are usually in a mess and dirty, a report in yesterday’s Daily Sunshine said. It is not only clean and well ventilated but also well managed.

There is a transparent plastic clip in front of every stall where the business license and purchase receipts are kept. If problems are found with any of the items for sale, the market authority can trace the problems to the source. A monitoring room has also been set up to test pesticide residues on vegetables with the results being displayed on an electronic bulletin board every day.

A poultry processing section and sales section are separated with ultra-violet germicidal lamps, refrigerators and air-conditioners installed to prevent cooked meat from going bad. All poultry sold in the market is issued with a quarantine certificate by relevant authorities.

A total of 3 million yuan (US$394,737) has been spent on upgrading the wet market this year. (Eunice Kang)