There were some passionate shoppers swarming into the Guiyang Free Trade Zone, in the city of Guiyang, Guizhou province Oct 18 wanting to get their hands on duty-free goods and hungry for bargains.

Trying out some expensive handbags on display at the trade fair [Photo/gog.com]

The draw was the zone's 5,000-square-meter trade fair center, a showcase for enterprises dealing in international commodities, which put on the show on its inauguration day, with products from such top brands as Prada and Versace occupying its shelves.

One eager shopper who lives close to the center, Liu, was looking for reasonably priced products and explained why she was there, by saying, "We rarely see any hustle and bustle here," then went to the second floor, which held more than 1,000 daily-use items from Germany, South Korea and Japan .

Wang Jing, a trade fair employee, said that purses are the most welcome item and that the popular luxury items are at least 20 percent lower than elsewhere, which was confirmed by another shopper, Liang, who remarked, "I heard that this place had opened and that these real products are truly cheap," while clutching two Valentino purses.

In addition to the physical center, there is WeChat, a popular smartphone app, available for those who prefer doing their online shopping, and as Yao Kanyun, GM of the trade fair company explained, "for online customers, it takes around 5 days to get their parcel".