SURROUNDED by a vibrant array of fresh-cut flowers, Huang Panpan and her husband work night shifts livestreaming their bouquets through Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), taking orders until dawn. The couple runs their business from the bustling Dounan Flower Market in Kunming, Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, the epicenter of China’s burgeoning horticulture industry. Huang and her husband started their fresh-cut flower business in 2016 in their hometown Liaocheng City, East China’s Shandong Province, serving the intra-city group-buying needs of over 10,000 flower lovers via WeChat, a popular social networking app in China. However, time-consuming logistics and high costs led them to move to Kunming, China’s biggest fresh-cut flower producing base, at the end of 2019. Around 11 billion flowers are traded each year in the city. Today, with over 20 locally hired villagers, a 5,000-square-meter warehouse, and the power of livestreaming, they have expanded their business and keep up with the increasing demand. While Huang interacts with her followers, her husband, Xiang Yancong, is hard at work purchasing flowers in the Dounan Flower Market. Armed with his flashlight, he carefully inspects the flower-heads’ quality, takes note of daily prices and plans to buy around 50,000 daisies, carnations, and other flowers that day. “The market sees tens of thousands of visitors from across the country during the day, but after 8:30 p.m., it transitions into a wholesale market for us florists,” said the 34-year-old man. The couple has also hired professional buyers to bid on roses at Kunming International Flora Auction Trading Center (KIFA), the largest trading center in Asia, with a capacity of 900 seats and sales of 11.6 million flowers during the Spring Festival holiday. Xiang deals with the high-pressure auction business at KIFA while Huang entertains their followers online, often working until 1 a.m. However, the couple’s long shift does not end there; Xiang returns home with a truck full of fresh blossoms to pack and arrange the delivery for the next day. To maintain the flowers’ freshness and prevent damage during transport, Huang and Xiang carefully wrap the cut ends with moist sponges and secure the stems with cable ties before placing them in cardboard boxes. This meticulous handling of the flowers allows for their safe delivery of three days using cold-chain aviation and high-speed railway logistics. China’s growing middle class has created a surge in the country’s floral consumption, with flowers being considered a daily consumption good rather than a luxury. The Dounan Flower Market has evolved from a street with roadside stalls to Asia’s largest fresh-cut flower trading center, selling to over 40 countries and regions worldwide, including Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The fresh-cut flower growing area in Yunnan totaled 21,700 hectares as of 2021, reflecting the success of this burgeoning industry. “I used to only buy flowers for birthdays or anniversaries, but now, I buy them every week as a common decoration for my room via livestreaming,” said a girl surnamed Wang from Yuncheng City in North China’s Shanxi Province during Huang’s live show. The florist couple, followed by about 1.7 million netizens, receives an average of 3,000 orders totaling 100,000 yuan (US$14,000) every day. As the sun rose at around 6 a.m., the couple finished their busy day of work. The flowers they had just packed were awaiting early flights to deliver them to clients across China. (Xinhua) | 