The Dounan, Asia’s Mega Flower Market That Sells a Million Smiles

Over a million flowers are sold within a span of four hours
Kavyasri Srinath
World
Updated:
Flowers at the Dounan market ready for auction. (Photo: AP/BON TV screengrab)
Flowers at the Dounan market ready for auction. (Photo: AP/BON TV screengrab)
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The Dounan flower market located in Southern China’s Yunnan province, is the biggest flower wholesale market in Asia. As night descends, a hive of activity begins as distributors and producers come together to satiate the needs of the international market.

“If I lose the race, I couldn’t get these flowers shipped out. And the timing would be wrong for selling flowers”
Li Youndong, a flower farmer

Something of an organised chaos reigns with tens of thousands of auctions completed within the 4 hours of trading, each electronic auction taking a mere 2 to 3 seconds to complete with over 1 million fresh flowers sold and an annual trade of 700 million Yuan and rising.

It is not simply the climate and geography ideal for growers that attract them but the cutting-edge technology, communications, logistics networks and enormous market potential that provide the greatest draw.

Video Credit: AP/BON TV

Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim

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Published: 07 Jun 2016,06:10 PM IST

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