China's largest flower market blossoms into a national trading and tourism hub

Dounan flower market in Kunming, Yunnan province, has grown into China's largest flower trading hub, serving as a shared marketplace where people from different regions and ethnic groups build businesses and livelihoods together.

Located in Chenggong district, the market has developed over more than four decades into a national center for flower trading, logistics, tourism, finance and data services. Its growth has also fostered exchanges and closer interaction among people from different ethnic groups through the shared flower industry, local officials said.

"Dounan's 40-year development is also a vivid example of people from different ethnic groups working together and pursuing common prosperity," said Li Zhongbo, deputy head of the district's united front work department and director of its ethnic and religious affairs bureau.

The market covers about 19 hectares, with a total floor area of 330,000 square meters. In 2025, flower transactions reached 15.48 billion stems, with a trading value of about 13.48 billion yuan ($2.02 billion), ranking first nationwide for the 27th consecutive year, according to the publicity department of the Kunming municipal Party committee.

More than 70 percent of China's fresh-cut flowers are distributed through Dounan, with its products reaching more than 50 countries and regions.

The market's origins date back to 1983, when a local villager brought gladiolus bulbs from Guangzhou, Guangdong province, and planted them on a small plot of land. The high returns encouraged more villagers to switch from growing vegetables to cultivating flowers. By the 1990s, a roadside flower market had taken shape.

As the industry expanded, growers and traders from across Yunnan and other parts of China joined the market. Today, Dounan is home to more than 2,200 businesses and 46 logistics companies. It connects about 80,000 flower-growing households with more than 350,000 wholesale markets and flower shops nationwide.

The market has established three major trading models: face-to-face transactions, auctions and online trading.

Its flower auction center, launched in 2002, has more than 300 seats, over 1,200 registered buyers and more than 8,000 registered suppliers. About 350 to 400 million stems are traded through auctions annually, with buyers often placing bids within seconds.

Beyond trade, Dounan has also developed into a national 4A-level tourist attraction. Flower growers, wholesalers, livestreaming hosts and visitors converge on the market, particularly at night, creating what locals describe as a "flower dance" of trading, livestreaming and tourism.

The market received 15.61 million visits in 2025, generating more than 1.34 billion yuan in tourism spending. The expanding tourism sector has created additional opportunities for people from different regions and ethnic backgrounds to interact, local officials said.

The market has also attracted entrepreneurs from across the country, many of whom have built their livelihoods there.

Yang Dajian, from Anhui province, has operated a flower business in Dounan for more than 20 years. He has grown from a newcomer handling only a few orders a day into an established trader processing dozens or even hundreds of orders.

Another entrepreneur, Yang Xiaohui from Henan province, studied nursing at university before entering the flower business after visiting Yunnan. She later shifted from flower sales to flower supplies and became one of the market's largest wholesalers in the sector.

Dounan is now expanding into flower breeding, digital trading and smart agriculture. An innovation center established in cooperation with the Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences has secured authorization for nearly 800 new flower varieties.

Local officials said the broader goal is to leverage the flower industry not only to support farmers and businesses, but also to bring communities closer through shared development.

"In Dounan, people work on the same industrial chain, trade in the same market and share the benefits of the same industry," Li said.

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn