Chengdu leads Chongqing in the sales of sunglasses. By contrast, in Chengdu, people wear stylish and trendy sunglasses all year round. The wider spectrum of eyeglasses however make up the bulk of sales, with evidence that China has a growing myopic population, especially among young people and teenagers. Since not everyone can adapt to contact lenses, the majority of near-sighted people wear spectacles. Spectacles are priced according to their style, workmanship and brand.
Domestic brands are generally cheaper, with prices ranging from a few yuan to several hundred yuan.
Foreign brands like S.T. Dupont, Cartier and Fred may cost several thousand yuan. However, unlike the market for sunglasses which divides Chengdu and Chongquing, people in both places are brand-conscious where it comes to ordinary eyewear. There are more brand-name followers in these two cities than anywhere else in the southwest. The Chengdu Pacific Department Store Chunxi branch, for instance, stocks foreign brands like Dunhill, Ray Ban, Longines, Christian Dior, Gucci and Versace as well as domestic brands like Blue Point, Parim and Ania. At the Chengdu Jingyi Optical Shop, even pricey international brand-name products costing tens of thousand of yuan are not ignored by customers.