The East China area is edging towards an atmosphere of panic over the fatal H7N9 bird flu that has already claimed 10 lives in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces. It is too early to draw any definite conclusions as to whether the situation will become anything like as serious as the SARS crisis in 2003. One definite improvement since then is that government departments, at all levels, are releasing information in a faster, more transparent, and more detailed way than 10 years ago.

The fate of birds and poultry in Shanghai can only be described as miserable since the first mass slaughter started on April 5 in Songjiang district after a pigeon there tested positive for the H7N9 virus.

It's reported that some residents are choosing to eat frozen chicken and duck, while all sales of fresh chicken have ground to a halt since April 6, dealing a heavy blow to businesses throughout the food chain. Hopefully, the affected farmers and related businesses will be reasonably compensated for their losses.

Some good news, in contrast, is that a species of delicious seasonal freshwater fish, as well as the famous Longjing (Dragon Well) Tea, are now affordable for the average family again.

The Yangtze River daoyu or "knife fish" got its name because of its knife-like shape. Knife fish is at its best in the short two-week period prior to Qingming Festival.

Supplies have been diminishing in recent years because of worsening pollution and other ecological problems along the Yangtze River.

As the Chinese saying goes "the less of something there is, the more expensive it will be."

Knife fish had been a special "supply dish" for top restaurants in the Yangtze River Delta region until last year, the price surging to 8,000 yuan ($1,291) per kilogram at one point, far beyond the reach of ordinary people. It was a luxurious extravagance that only officials and businessmen could indulge themselves in.

But when I went to a fishery wholesale market in Yangpu district at the end of March, to my great surprise fresh knife fish was being sold at between 200 and 400 yuan per kilogram. Realizing this was an unexpected opportunity for my family to enjoy a rare treat I bought some, and it turned out to be delicious.

My husband concluded that the central government's efforts to curb lavish banquets at public expense and to promote national austerity have each played a part in these falling prices.

This is also echoed by the falling price of certain teas this year.

The first crop of green teas picked before the solar calendar periods of guyu and qingming is regarded as of the highest quality.

Previously, the market demand was huge for this limited supply as many would purchase this tea as special gifts for people who could advance their economic or career interests.

For this reason, the price of the famous Longjing Tea from Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province skyrocketed out of the reach of the average consumer. It became no longer a simple tea, but a symbol of social status and fortune.

No figures have ever been released as to how much Longjing was purchased out of the public purse, but there's reason to believe there must have been some.

This year, however, the price of such teas has dropped into a more affordable range, thanks to the policy of nationwide frugality.

This news reminds me of my own story of purchasing a nut which only grows in my hometown in Zhejiang Province.

I regularly buy about 10 gift packages every October when this nut matures. The nut, called xiangfei, is something like a walnut. We have always presented xiangfei to our friends during the following Spring Festival. The price had also been steadily increasing from 200 yuan per kilogram 10 years ago. And when I asked my sister to buy 10 packages of xiangfei last October, she told me the price had reached a record high of 600 yuan per kilogram, 200 yuan more than that of a year earlier.

She wondered whether I could still afford such an expensive gift. I told her that I still needed it because it has already become an annual custom for me to give it to friends. I could hardly tell them they wouldn't be getting it this year because of the high price.

My sister astutely bought only five packages in October, and held on to see whether the price would drop before Spring Festival came around. And sure enough, just before Chinese New Year, she told me the price had tumbled as low as 240 yuan per kilogram.

The reason was simple. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the central government has used all its energies to discourage wasting public funds, and to promote an austere lifestyle among government officials.

And it's evident that the policy is having something of an immediate impact, even if we can't say that its long-term benefits are quite as certain.

So, a large amount of public funds is being saved and bribery is now less likely without the lure of luxury gifts as incentives to indulge in such crimes. The supply and demand market for former luxury items, many of which are seasonal delicacies, should now hopefully normalize bringing long-term benefits to all.

Announcing a new policy is always easy, but enforcing that policy is the real challenge. Public trust in the government is largely dependent on the determination of officials to enforce the kind of policies that will benefit ordinary people.

The author is the managing editor of Global Times Metro Shanghai. fengyu@globaltimes.com.cn