CPI of Yichang in December increased by 1.1% compared with the same period last year, 0.2% lower than in November. On a monthly basis, it edged up 0.4%, 0.2% higher than in November, according to the statistics from Yichang Investigation Team of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Price rise for food was the main driving contributor to it.

　　Fresh vegetable prices have been floating. In December 2014, affected by both the increased market share of unlocal vegetables and the increased demand of vegetables for the New Year holiday, vegetable prices went up. The urban vegetable prices rose by 5.3% and fresh vegetable prices by 5.7 %. The prices of unseasonal vegetables such as green beans, cowpeas and cucumbers got significant rise. The vegetable’s price tends to decline but has increased by 4.9%.

　　The prices of liquid milk and dairy have decreased. Since raw milk prices in the international market have been falling, the domestic dairy companies use plenty of imported milk powder to restore production; the problem with product structure has caused a substantial decline of the raw milk price. Liquid milk and dairy prices have fallen by 2.3%. Specifically, pasteurized milk or sterilized milk prices have fallen by 3.2%, and milk powder price by 1.2%.

　　The price of oil decreased by 10% compared with the same period of the previous year, but fell by 3.8% compared with the previous month, out of which the price of edible vegetable oil dropped by 10.7% year-on-year, but declined by 1.9% month-on-month. It was the second big drop in 2014. The Per Unit Sales Price of Arowana cooking oil decreased from RMB 65.9 yuan (about＄10.64 ) / 5L to RMB 53.9 yuan/= (about＄8.7) / 5L. And the Per Unit Sales Price of Fortune cooking oil went down from RMB 71.9 yuan/ (about＄11.6 ) to RMB 54.9 yuan (about＄8.86 )/ 5L, which was the biggest drop in 2014.

　　Tourist price fell by 3.6% from a year earlier, but it remained unchanged from the month before. The fees charged by travel agencies were 3.4%, lower in December than a year before. And the hotel accommodation prices decelerated by 7% against the previous year.

　　On the National Day of 2014, it was announced that the tickets to the Three Gorges Dam were free. At the same time, travel agencies accordingly lowered the fees. Therefore, fees charged by the travel agencies declined compared with the prior year. The occupancy rate of hotels in Yichang urban areas went down in December, which led to a slight price decline in standard rooms as well as in hotel accommodations compared with the year before. (Reporter: Pei Zhujing; Correspondent: Zou Jiao)