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
