Dounan flower market in Kunming City, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, has seen a recent sales boom as flowers and plants with auspicious names and a subscription-based business model have found favor with consumers.
These days, the sales of flowers and plants that symbolize good luck and fortune surged in this Asia's largest fresh-cut flower trading market. For example, succulent plants dubbed "Jinyumantang" which literally means "abundant wealth" are very popular among consumers. "I bought flowers dubbed "Jinyumantang". I think they are really beautiful and cute," said a consumer.
A subscription-based flower delivery model is another factor that drives the boom of the floral market. By subscribing to a floral delivery service, consumers can have flowers delivered to their doorstep every week with just a few clicks.
This caters to the demands of consumers who want to have fresh flowers every week.
"Fresh flowers normally last no more than eight to 10 days. That's why we have this 'flower delivery weekly subscription' model to make sure that flower lovers can have new flowers before old ones wilt," said Guo Junxiong, procurement manager of an online flower shop.
The rise of such a new model could not have been possible had it not for the rapid development of the logistics industry and food preservation techniques in cold-chain logistics.
Nowadays, flowers sent from the Dounan flower market can be delivered to over 200 cities across China in just 48 hours by road, rail or air.
"These days are the peak season. We deliver about 4,000 to 6,000 small parcels a day these days compared with just 1,000 to 2,000 on normal days. The number of large parcels we deliver has been three times higher recently," said Li Yuliang, head of a logistics service station at the Dounan flower market.
Innovative business models contribute to flower market boom in Kunming
Authorities in southern China have stepped up rescue efforts after Super Typhoon Yagi roared ashore bringing strong winds, rains and flooding.
The State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters raised its emergency flood and typhoon response from Level IV to Level III in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Friday after Yagi made landfall in the neighboring island province of Hainan.
With the typhoon weakening in Guangxi, the local railway operator has carried out inspections and repairs on railroads, and resumed train operations from 15:00 on Saturday on local high-speed railway lines.
In response to the challenges facing Guangxi, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters sent a working group to the province to assist in relief work on Friday.
The working group supported local authorities in Nanning, capital city of Guangxi in allocating 12,500 sets of relief material including tents and emergency lighting to typhoon-hit regions, and organized 2,100 firefighters to prepare for emergency rescue. It also organized the provincial natural resources, housing and construction departments to strengthen inspections of key areas such as dams, reservoirs and locations prone to geological hazards. At the same time, it put 20 professional rescue teams in place in case of emergency.
According to the working group's leader Zhao Zhigang, by 11:00 on Saturday, six cities and 15 counties had been severely impacted by the typhoon, with 60,223 residents affected. He said the local power grid operator had reported that 267,845 users had lost power due to the typhoon, while power supply had been restored to 160,707 users, adding that the power supply department is making every effort to speed up repair work.
Elsewhere, Yagi made a second landfall in Xuwen County, in the city of Zhanjiang in south China's Guangdong Province on Friday evening.
In neighboring Leizhou City rescue workers have been busy clearing fallen trees from roads and fixing damaged fiber-optic cables and base stations.
About 18,000 hectares of farmland in Leizhou, which is a major food producing area in Guangdong, has been affected by the typhoon, with 16,000 hectares of crops, including more than 1,133 hectares of bananas, lost to the storm.
Relief efforts underway as Typhoon Yagi hits southern China
