When dusk completely enveloped Kunming, at 8:40 p.m., the Dounan Flower Market witnessed its most vibrant moment of awakening. As the gates of the trading area rose slowly, the long-accumulated flow of people and vehicles rushed in like a tide, instantly igniting the entire market. The continuous bargaining voices and the footsteps of transporting flowers interweave into a unique symphony of the marketplace, kicking off the bustling curtain of traditional counterparty transactions.

Nowadays, this grand scene of the night flower market has long entered thousands of households through the lenses of self-media. Many creators with live streaming equipment come here for its reputation, capturing the most vivid materials amid the bustling crowds.

In the trading area, a wonderful picture of life is unfolding: the baby in the stroller is sleeping as usual, completely undisturbed by the hustle and bustle; A young female merchant who had just completed a transaction was sitting on a small stool, gobbling up her boxed meal just before midnight. When she saw the reporter's camera, she shyly smiled and waved her hand, saying, "Don't film me. I don't look good!"

The trading site after 8:40 p.m

The customer who just bought flowers from the market

Nighttime bulk trading usually lasts until the early hours of the morning until the last bunch of flowers is sold. Sun Xin, director of the President's Office of Dounan Flower Market, introduced, "A day here is divided into two chapters - from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., it is the retail period for tourists." After nightfall, it switches to a special session for bulk transactions serving wholesalers. Although the venues are the same, the business operators each have their own responsibilities, keeping the market constantly vibrant during the alternation of day and night.

The baby's breath sold by the pound weighs 1 kilogram each.

Looking back on the development process of Dounan, it is a vivid history of the evolution of the flower industry. More than 40 years ago, the villagers here still made a living by growing grains and vegetables. In 1983, villager Hua Zhongyi introduced gladioli seedlings from Guangdong for trial planting. Unexpectedly, he reaped astonishing economic benefits. That year, his income from growing flowers reached as high as 3,000 yuan, which was dozens of times that of growing vegetables. This "flower of prosperity" ignited the enthusiasm of all the villagers. By 1990, 95% of the farmers had switched to growing flowers, and Dounan had thus transformed into a "sea of flowers".

In 2024, the transaction volume of Dounan Flower Market reached 11.57 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year growth of 19.8%. From the initial "street market" where people carried carrying poles to sell their flowers along the streets, to today's largest fresh-cut flower trading center in Asia and the second largest in the world, Dounan has completed a magnificent transformation from the fields to an international flower market in just a few decades. It has also become the "price barometer" and "industry trend indicator" of China's flower market.

Under the exemplary guidance of Dounan, the flower industry in Yunnan has flourished like a prairie fire. More and more flower farmers in Dounan are extending their reach into upstream and downstream fields such as flower packaging, logistics and wholesale, thus building a complete industrial ecosystem.

Meanwhile, this "Flower Capital of Asia" is constantly unlocking new development challenges: young tourists wearing garlands shuttle among them, cultural and tourism activities such as flower music festivals and creative night markets are held one after another, and a wide variety of cultural and creative products such as flower fridge magnets and handmade flower soaps are on display. With the rise of the live-streaming economy, the popularity of Dounan Flower Market has spread across mountains and seas, attracting Internet celebrities, big names and even foreign friends to come in a continuous stream.

The Dounan Flower Market during the day

Since being rated as a National AAA-level Tourist attraction in 2018, the popularity of Dounan Flower Market has continued to rise. In 2024, it received as many as 7.6234 million visitors, and has already become the most charming new cultural and tourism business card of Kunming, the "Spring City".