Chili sauce a hot buy

Shanghai-registered online users were the biggest spender of chili sauce last year, purchasing more of the hot topping than shoppers from even those parts of the country that are typically known for spicy foods, according to a new report by Taobao.com, the largest online shopping platform on the Chinese mainland.

Experts responded to the survey, saying that the trend stems from crowds of people from Sichuan, Hunan, and other provinces traditionally known to favor spicy flavors, migrating to Shanghai - where they are too busy working to make their own chili sauces.