THE "chicken killer" (who was unwilling to give his real name) said he had just returned from his hometown in neighbouring Jiangsu Province where he had been killing chickens for three days.

Afterwards, the birds were not burnt, as they should have been, but instead delivered to restaurants for money.

"I can't earn money in Shanghai these days, because live poultry is forbidden there now," said this 56-year-old man, whose job is to kill poultry in the Shanghai Sanguantang Poultry and Egg Wholesale Market. He mentioned he usually received 0.2 yuan for each chicken slaughtered.

"I used to engage in my business from 11:30pm to 10:00am the following day. I could earn about 300 yuan (US$36) over this period, but now I don't have a penny, and all five of my assistants have gone home."

These days, he just chats with other people at the gate of the market about the "great economic loss" since the suspension of the market.

Shanghai's Sanguantang Market, the city's largest poultry and egg wholesale market, closed its doors on February 2. A government notice pasted on the sealed doors says: " All retail and wholesale business in live poultry has been stopped in Shanghai's markets."

"We have been told to keep the market closed until there is another notice from the government," said an administrative officer from the market.

The once busy crowd of traders has been replaced by small groups wandering aimlessly in the mostly deserted space.

According to the "chicken slaughterer", the main task remaining in the market is sterilizing and cleaning, a process that lasts for about 4 hours from late morning to early afternoon.

"We used to sterilize and clean the market everyday after trading in the past, so it was always fairly clean. The people who have been infected with bird flu are those who raise the chickens, not traders. I don't think the market is dangerous," he said.

According to the general manager of the market, Wang Baorong, last year about 34.4 million chickens were traded in the market, producing revenues that yielded a tax bill totalling approximately 3 million yuan (US$363,000). But now they face loses amounting to roughly 300,000 yuan (US$36,000) per week, since commercial activities have been suspended.

"To ensure residents' health is the most important thing," Wang said, "and we will perfect our infrastructure to meet the requirements of the government."

However, about 6,000 wholesalers who worked for the market are still waiting for the government's response to questions about the re-opening of the market. If the trading of live poultry remains prohibited, they said, they would have to return home and change their jobs, because they are not on the list of those entitled to government compensation.

For those whose job involved transporting the chickens to the markets in Shanghai, these are difficult times. Most of the trucks have been bought in Shanghai and have local plates. If they return home, they will have to sell these trucks in Shanghai, and they believe the price will be low under these circumstances. Even with no income coming in the truckers still have to pay about 50 yuan (US$6) per day in fees for road maintenance and parking. But there are also about 30 trucks parked in the market which are waiting for good news about the re-opening of the market to arrive.

Favourite dish

Among those in the catering business, the ones to suffer most are restaurants who sell Shanghai-style steamed chicken, according to He Shizhao, an official with the Shanghai Restaurants Association.

Shanghai is well-known for its steamed chicken, which is a favourite dish among locals. But with the outbreak of the bird flu, experts have suggested that people avoid eating such food because steamed chicken is not thoroughly cooked.

He said the restaurants specializing in such steamed chicken have seen an average loss of about two thirds of their customers.

The Xiao Shao Xing Restaurant on Yunnan Lu, which is famous for its Shanghai-style steamed chicken, is mentioned by the official as the eatery which has seen the biggest loss among all local restaurants.

The number of consumers has decreased unmistakably according to the sources with the restaurant. Chen Zhiqiang, the deputy general manger of the restaurant, said the sales of chicken had fallen to only half their previous level, and sometimes even less. Before the bad news, the restaurant was selling 500-600 chickens every day.