Enthusiasm for Valentine's Day boosts floral business in southwest China's Yunnan

Reuters - The Chinese people's enthusiasm for the Valentine's Day has boosted the floral business in major flower markets in southwest China's Yunnan Province, as sales and prices of fresh cut flower have both gone up. Sales of fresh flowers, especially red roses, went up about one week before the Valentine's Day in Dounan flower market in Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan. "The prices of flowers increase on the Valentine's Day every year because the demand goes up, and therefore the prices will also rise," said a flower vendor. According to the vendor, a bouquet of 52 red roses is usually sold at around 50 yuan (7.5 U.S. dollars), but the price will double around the Valentine's Day. Prices at the wholesale market are much lower than those in retail shops. The demand for fresh flowers is also high around the Spring Festival holiday season every year, which falls in February this year. Locals love to buy flowers to decorate their homes during the Spring Festival holiday. Tourists from other parts of the country also love to buy some fresh flowers at the production base for the freshness and the relatively low price and bring them back home.