Dounan is located in Chenggong District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province, on the east bank of Dianchi Lake. With the high altitude, low latitude, and sufficient sunlight, the natural conditions for planting flowers can be concluded as blessed.
As a well-known hometown of flowers, Dounan flowers occupy 70% of the market share of large and medium cities across China and are the "weathervane" and "barometer" of the Chinese flower market.
In mid-August, the Chinese Valentine's Day has been celebrated, and Dounan met one of the most important seasons of the year. Affected by the COVID-19 epidemic this year, the market demand for flowers and the logistics system have been hit. But with the domestic situation under effective control, here is quickly regaining its previous vitality.
At 6 o'clock in the morning, when the day is just beginning and the Dounan Flower Market woke up early. The hustle and bustle that lasted until the early hours of the same morning seem to have not dissipated, and a new round of busy day has begun.
Li Tao is a flower dealer. After breakfast every day, she comes to the flower market to trim the flower branches and pack them for sale. She said that during this morning, tourists who are going to leave will come to catch the morning batch of flowers in the market so that they can take away the freshest flowers.
In order for flowers to reach customers as soon as possible, many sections in the flower industry, such as flower farmers, flower vendors, wholesalers, flower brokers, logistics workers, etc., are busy at different time points in one day.
At 8 am, 22-year-old Li Linli goes to work. Just after graduating from Southwest Forestry University, Li Linli is currently working at Aibida Horticultural Technology Co., Ltd., working in the potted rose planting base in Jinning, Kunming. The modern smart greenhouse here is imported from the Netherlands, from which he can learn cutting-edge flower breeding technology. As the Chinese Valentine's Day approaches, orders are becoming more and more. Every day, more than 3,000 potted roses are shipped to the Dounan market, and then distributed to all parts of China.
After 9 o'clock in the morning, Dounan International Flower Auction and Trading Center (abbreviation in Chinese: Huapai Center) has been very busy. After the fresh flowers transported from all parts of Yunnan to participate in the auction are placed here, sampled to test, and sorted, they will be placed on rows of red special shelves and transported to the designated area.
Starting at noon, the flower live streamers show up one after another. Many of these live streamers are local flower brokers and distributors, and some are not local but come here for “gold rushing”. It is often seen that several live streamers are carrying a tripod and connected to their mobile phones while shopping in different flower stores to sell them via the live stream. A bucket is often hung under the tripod, with a bottle of water in it, and a tear-off label with the customer number written on it. Here, the store owners and the live streamers have reached a certain mutual understanding, and it is common to see several live streamers to “compete” in the same store. On August 11, at the "Pushu Garden" store in Dounan Bonsai Flower Ecological Park, the live streamer, "Hua Bangzhu" on Taobao and the live streamer of the store itself had a live show to sell flowers. After a while, they have received dozens of orders.
At 3 pm, the auction of the Flower Auction Center officially started. In the trading hall, hundreds of seats are filled with people, and those who cannot have a seat have to wait in the aisle. Everyone is staring at the screen, and at the same time checking the status of their own orders at any time, ready to bid. The daily transaction volume here is millions of sticks.
At 4 pm, Flower Street welcomes guests, and a large number of flowers are placed on the street for customers to choose from. Flower Street is located in the market, and piles of colorful flowers are on the side of the street like haystacks. They are beautiful and eye-catching. The fragrance of flowers is overflowing. Flower sellers, carriers, buyers, and visitors come and go, like an endless stream. This is not only the center of the flower market where buyers and sellers meet and trade but also a must-visit place for tourists.
At 8 o'clock in the evening, the night market begins and the peak of the flower market comes. The flower stalls on Flower Street are gradually leaving in the dark, but the flow of people in the venue reached the highest peak in a day. During the daytime, the flower market mainly sells potted flowers, and at night it is time for fresh cut flowers. The buyers are walking around, inquiring, checking, and bargaining, so the market is crowded and a hubbub of voices. The branches of fresh-cut flowers are mostly packed in yellow paper bags. In order to see them more clearly, many people will turn on a flashlight or bring their own small flashlights, and put their faces in front of the paper bags to observe flowers carefully. There are also some tourists who come here especially for this, wandering in the densely packed flower night market, and when if they see something they like, they can't help but buy some.
At 10 o'clock in the evening, there are more mobile stalls in Flower Street. Barbecues and fruits sellers are placed next to the main road. Electric tricycles that pull goods almost cover the entire road. Under the coordination of the security guards, tricycles, tourists and various stalls are in real-time dynamic flow. Although Flower Street at night is crowded, it is not congested.
At 12 o'clock in the evening, the logistics workers are still busy, and the goods transported from the market to the airport and railway are still being packed, boxed, and transported. In a newly opened entrepreneurial space next to the Huapai Center, flower brokers and logistics workers are still working overtime to transport the final goods away. In the streets and alleys, there are always a few flower shops with lights on. There are electric tricycles on several main roads such as Xianhua Avenue, Huadu Road, and Jingui Street from time to time. If the trailer hanging on the back of the tricycle is empty, it means that the store's sales are good that day.
Logistics workers are the ones who persist until the end. Some are busy until 2 in the morning, and later it will affect the shipment.
After 3 o'clock in the morning, the Dounan market is really quiet. But at this time, in order to ensure that the flowers enter the store on time, the flower farmers in the surrounding flower fields have started a busy day. In a while, the truck drivers are coming.
Source: yn.yunnan.cn