Queasy from China's stock rout? Try pickles & booze

Consumers, and investors, favour cheaper goods. That's not a happy indicator

Losing money in China’s stock market? You can still afford a meal of rice and pickles, washed down with a $2 bottle of baijiu to numb the pain.

The market is in solid bear territory this year. Of the 2,000-odd stocks in the Shenzhen Composite Index, only seven are trading above their 200-day moving average. The index is down 21 percent in yuan terms.

Not all is lost, though. 

Shenzhen-listed Chongqing Fuling Zhacai Group Co, which sells pickled mustard stems, a national favourite eaten alone or sauteed with vegetables, soared 74 per cent this year to reach a $3.4 billion market cap. Beijing