After being forced to relocate to make way for construction, owners of shops former located in the Jingwen Flower Market in Shanghai are now selling their goods online.

The flower market, which was located on Shaanxi Road, was the largest such market in the city before it was shut down earlier this year.

The Website (www.jweflower.com) was first set up in 2002, but expanded quickly when the Jingwen market was forced to shut down in October.

More than 100 flower shops are now selling goods through the Website, said Hu Xiaofen, the manager of the online market, which receives about 10,000 visitors a day.

After the Jingwen market was closed, many residents said they had a hard time finding places to buy flowers. Currently, there are no major flower markets in downtown Shanghai.

The online flower market is expected to ease the problem.

Each registered shop has a virtual business card, which is connected to a list of products for sale. Just like any other online store, the site has pictures of all of the products for sales.

Buying and selling goods through the site is just as easy as using eBay, according to Hu.

"The current shops on our Website are mostly from the old Jingwen market," said Hu. "They had to move their shops to somewhere else, but now they can be gathered again online."

Phone orders are also accepted. Each store lists its phone number for people to make orders.

"There will be no territorial limits," said Hu. "Sellers from Holland can list their tulips here for customers."

A daily flower price list will soon be added to the Website, according to Hu. It will act as a references for both flower wholesalers and individual buyers.

An English version of the Website will be established early next year. 

(Shanghai Daily December 21, 2005)