Staring from 6/1/2008, a new plastic bag policy will be executed in China, nation-wide.

1. It’s prohibited to manufacture, sell and use plastic shopping bag that is less than 0.025 mm thick.

2.  All supermarket, department store and flea market shall execute the paid plastic bag policy. No free plastic shopping bag give-away is allowed.

At this point, markets are charging 0.3 ~ 0.5 RMB per bag. People definitely are feeling the pressure to switch to some other bags.  Money-conscious Chinese people will not spend 1 RMB on vegetable then spend 0.5 RMB on a bag.

The next question is what can people use? Carrying a big bulky basket  to a distanced supermarket is not very practical. Maybe cloth bags?  I need to ask my parents.