By Sharachchandra Bhandary, lately in Kunming
The Dounan Flower Market, Asia’s largest fresh-cut flower trading market, in the southwest Chinese city of Kunming mesmerizes every visitor with its strong fragrance. Eighteen media professionals from various Asian, African and European countries, as part of the Media Cooperation Forum on Belt and Road, organized by People’s Daily in association with the People’s Government, were recently on an on-site visit of this market along with the senior journalists and management officials of People’s Daily.
The Dounan Flower Market, located in the Chenggong District of Kunming, Yunnan Province, is also the world’s second-largest fresh-cut flower trading hub. This bustling market is a key supplier, with flowers from Dounan reaching every provincial-level region on the Chinese mainland and more than 50 countries and regions worldwide, including Japan and Thailand.
As per the Yunnan Government’s statistics, with a transaction value of 11.57 billion yuan (about 1.61 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, the market has led the country in both flower transaction volume and value for 25 consecutive years. Flower cultivation in Dounan dates back to 1983. In the 1990s, local residents began commercial cultivation and trading. In 1999, China’s first professional flower trading market was established in Dounan.
Since then, the market has expanded its flower industry chain, solidifying its position as a major flower trading hub. Now, seven out of 10 fresh-cut flowers in China come from Dounan.
Dounan’s blooming flower industry highlights China’s prominence in the global flower market.With about 1.5 million hectares dedicated to flower cultivation and more than 5 million people involved in the industry, China has become the world’s largest flower producer and an important flower trader and consumer.
Interestingly, the transportation of fresh-cut flowers from the market includes air transport, road cold-chain transport and railway transport by integrating conventional luggage trains with high-speed rail express service.
A local trader stated that the favorable climatic and geographical conditions enable Dounan Village of Kunming to become Asia’s biggest flower wholesale market. Praised as “the epicenter of China’s flower market”, Dounan Flower Market is home to over 300 species of 4–6 million flowers or more, with a daily turnover reaching as high as 5.5 million RMB. Over 20 big companies, such as Yunnan Airlines, purchase flowers from Dounan Flower Market on a large scale, and millions of flowers are airlifted daily to over 10 domestic cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand.
The Dounan market mainly provides two forms of trading: face-to-face trading and auctions. For those who are interested in knowing the flower auction process, gather there in thousands and more. The auction looks like share trading in New York or London.
More than 500 florist shops operate in the Trading Hall of the market, where you can not only see local flower species, such as roses and water lilies, but also you can appreciate exotic flowers like moth orchids, forget-me-nots, African daisies, and carnations, and they drench the air with an enchanting fragrance.
Login to add a comment