By TWA
IN this article, I would love to take a tour to the epi-center of China's flower market with buzzing activity, Dounan Flower Market, where I visited in the third week of June 2023.
The Dounan Flower Market, located about 18 kilometers from Kunming city, is the largest flower wholesale market in Asia and the second largest world.
Enchanting views depicting women of any age wearing flower crowns in the vast sea of flowers is enhancing a market appeal.
The market stretching as far as the eyes can reach offers the varieties of fresh-cut flowers, ornamental plants, vases, seedlings, bouquets, small potted plants, plant shelves and plant accessories. The florists display the flower boutiques and create unique floral setups in this competitive market to attract the customers.
The 23-year old flower market was forced to shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic and was reopened in January 2023. The market has welcomed over 2.3 million visitors as of 31 May 2023 since the reopening, director Zhang Xian of Dounan Flower Market told the Global New Light of Myanmar.
The market employed 600,000 Chinese including 340,000 locals. The market is thriving, with the trade volume of 10.26 billion flowers worth 10.2 billion Chinese Yuan in 2021 and 16.2 billion flowers valued at 12.1 billion Yuan in 2022.
In addition to face-to-face trading, the market also provides electronic auctions at its auction house and the live streamers make online sales for the imported flowers at the bustling market.
The flowers are sold to Thailand, Japan, Singapore, Russia and Australia through auctions. In the first half of 2023, 28 million stems of flowers and 52 million seedlings were transacted, Zhang Xian shared this information with the GNLM.
The florists create unique designs of those flowers that start to wilt to capture the eyes of the visitors. Some cut the prices as well. The dead flowers are recycled for natural fertilizer.
After Shangyi flower wholesale market in the heart of Kunming city was removed, Jingxing flower and bird market, 1st Chajie Street, Dounan, and Jiameng flower markets have become popular spots for buying flowers.
Kunming’s Dounan flower market, the largest market in Asia, is a good place for the buyers to find the variety of flowers at wholesale prices. The visitors can be lost in the vibrant sights and beauty of nature’s smell and photographers can also capture the stunning photos of flowers in the sprawling market with endless rows of flower shops. This article is written to boast the Dounan flower market that has been blooming over the past two decades.
