Price of flowers soars in Yunnan ahead of Chinese Valentine's Day

The price for fresh-cut flowers has soared in Kunming City of southwest China's Yunnan Province as the Qixi Festival, also known as the Chinese Valentine's Day, is around the corner.

The Qixi Festival, originating from a 2,000-year-old legend of two lovers, falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese calendar. This year the festival falls on Aug 10.

The Kunming International Flora Auction Trading Center experienced its peak for Qixi Festival flower sales between Aug 2 and 9, with the highest daily supply reaching 9.8 million flower stems and an average daily transaction volume of around 8 million.

"Roses with large heads, thick petals and cup-shaped blooms are in high demand, so are small, fresh and natural-looking flowers. Among the best-selling flowers this year, white varieties have seen particularly strong pricing," said Li Zhijun, an auctioneer at the Kunming International Flora Auction Trading Center.

Due to a decrease in flower supply this year, market prices have risen by 40 percent compared to the previous year, and the prices of certain popular flower varieties have continued to rise as the Qixi Festival approaches.

"The price [of the 'pride rose' variety] can reach 6.5 yuan (about 0.9 U.S. dollars) per stem, tripling the normal price level," said Li.

A flower company in the city was brightly lit at night, with live streaming to sell flowers in full swing and the staff working rapidly to pack the flowers into boxes, racing against the clock to reach customers across the country.

"We started preparing the inventory between Aug 1 and 2, and the market rushed to purchase the flowers at that time. The flower market at this year's Qixi Festival was very robust," said Zhang Yihao, head of the flower company.

At the city's Dounan Flower Market, Asia's largest fresh-cut flower trading market, customers are also rushing to buy flowers, hoping to create a romantic atmosphere in their homes.

Price of flowers soars in Yunnan ahead of Chinese Valentine's Day

The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Sunday released a short video of its combat training activities, showing the PLA is ready for operations at all times.

The video was released a day before the theater command organized its troops of army, navy, air force and rocket force to conduct "Joint Sword-2024B" drills in the Taiwan Strait and the north, south and east of the island of Taiwan.

Li Xi, the spokesperson for the theater command, said the drills involve vessels and planes closing in on the island from multiple directions and assaults by joint forces.

The drills focus on joint sea-air combat readiness patrol, the blockade and control of key ports and areas, strikes on sea and land targets, and the seizure of comprehensive battlefield control, so as to test the joint real-combat capabilities of the forces of the command, Li said.

The drills are a powerful deterrent to the separatist activities of "Taiwan independence" elements, and are legitimate and necessary actions to safeguard national sovereignty and national unity, Li said.

PLA releases short video on combat training activities