Auspicious flowers win favor of Chinese customers as Spring Festival draws near

Flower sellers across China are seeing their auspicious varieties sought after by customers who began to decorate their home in the run-up to the traditional Spring Festival.   

Colorful bromeliads and butterfly orchids are typically seen as lucky symbols for the new year, and this year in flower markets across China, they are in plenty supply as usual.

In Luohe City, central China's Henan Province, flower farmers said butterfly orchids are now the prime choice for customers coming to pick a plant to decorate their houses and many of them said they choose butter orchids because of their bright colors.

"The Spring Festival is just around the corner and I've come to buy some potted flowers to decorate my home. Butterfly orchids have bright colors, so I plan to put some of them in my home to warm up the atmosphere for the near year," said Luo Xiaobei, a customer.

Boxes of potted bromeliads are also sent to south China's Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster from Ganzhou City of east China's Jiangxi Province. The auspicious plants have a long flowering period and are thus highly welcomed on the market.

The rising demand is at the same time fueling the development of flower cultivation technologies. In Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, butterfly orchid farmers have been cooperating with universities and research institutes to develop new varieties and technologies and they said that annual sales of the flower reached over 200 million yuan (over 27 million U.S. dollars) over the recent years.

"Technologies are used to promote flower induction and to prevent and control pests and plant diseases. We have also made the pots with more permeable materials and are using air-conditioners to simulate the natural environment so that we can induce flowering throughout the whole year and ensure plenty supply to the market," said Zhu Guangchang, a butterfly orchid farmer.

The upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year falls on Jan 29, 2025, with an eight-day public holiday running from Jan 28 to Feb 4. 

Auspicious flowers win favor of Chinese customers as Spring Festival draws near

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham formed a new cabinet on Monday, appointing former Defense Secretary John Healey as Chancellor of the Exchequer, according to a statement from the his office.

Healey had resigned as defense secretary following disagreements over the previous government's defense spending plans. British media described his appointment as chancellor as unexpected.

Ed Miliband was appointed foreign secretary, while Shabana Mahmood remained home secretary. Louise Haigh was named first secretary of state, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and minister for the Cabinet Office. Yvette Cooper was appointed health secretary, while Pat McFadden remained as work and pensions secretary.

In his inaugural speech outside 10 Downing Street earlier on Monday, Burnham pledged to deliver "the biggest changes in the last 40 years" and introduce "a new political model and a new economic model."

After Keir Starmer resigned as British prime minister on the same day, Burnham, the new leader of the ruling Labor Party, accepted King Charles III's invitation at Buckingham Palace to form a government and officially became the British prime minister.

British new PM Burnham forms new cabinet