Bok choy is a staple ingredient of Beijing winter cuisine. The vegetable enters the market in bulk at the start of winter. This year, however, the production areas around Beijing experienced "difficult sales". Data from Xinfadi Market showed that the price of bok choy reached its lowest position in 5 years. The price only began to recover after temperatures drastically dropped in recent days. Farmers are not out of the woods yet, they still risk losing money on sales.
The price slightly increased as the weather turned colder, but the demand for this vegetable declined. Local farmers blame the increased supply of bok choy from Yutian in Hebei to the capital region. About one third of the bok choy is still unmarketable.
This situation also occurred in bok choy production areas in Shandong, Henan, and Shanxi this year, and has been common in previous years as well. Excessive production seems to be the root cause for this development.
