High-priced apples recently raised the eyebrows of consumers in northeastern China’s Dalian.

The apples aren’t anything special except that they are a little bit bigger in size and brighter in color compared to ordinary ones. However, their prices range from $8.50 to $35 each, exceeding the general retail price at least several dozen times.

The apples were put on market on January 23. Nearly 1,000 have been sold.

An unnamed couple bought 400 all at once last Thursday, spending more than $6,250 total. They said they will give the apples to friends and relatives as gifts.

Two apples, which are especially large and weigh about 1 kg each, are also for sale at a unit price of $1,000.

“It is said that only one tree in Japan can bear such big apples, so the quantity is quite limited. Only six such big ones are imported to China this year. We have three in Dalian,” said the seller, referring to the two $1,000 apples.

Officials with the Ministry of Agriculture said these high-price apples do not feature special agriculture techniques and they are not essentially different from ordinary ones in terms of taste and quality.

By Sun Tzu on 13-02-2007