Indulge yourself in the flower city of Dounan

Kunming has long been celebrated as the city of eternal spring, largely thanks to the dazzling displays of flowers in all shapes and colors all year round at virtually every street corners. Little do people realize much of Kunming’s flower spectacles come from Dounan.

The central area of Dounan only covers a little over 1.4 square kilometers But it’s home to Asia’s top fresh cut flower trading market, as the result of arduous efforts by generations of people for 4 decades. The once oblivious village with a reputation of growing flowers has become the pivotal center of China’s flower trade) 

Tens of thousands of people have thronged to Dounan for the opportunity to succeed.

Fresh cut flowers in 117 major categories and well over 1,600 varieties are being traded here in Dounan on daily basis Flowers from Dounan are sold to the entire country and elsewhere all around the world.

In the 40 years' accumulation of flower growing, there is always a romance worthy of our love.

Gladiolus heralds the era of Dounan

Located off the east coast of Dianchi Lake, Dounan wins Kunming the title of China’s flower capital. Who would have thought the birthplace of China’s fresh cut flowers industry traces the origin of its success to gladiolus, the perennial classic with tall flower spikes and large blossoms

In the early 1980s, China's rural areas were ushered ushered in a major reform. With the joint production contract responsibility system as the mainstay, farmers all over the country had the autonomous right to produce and trade agricultural products. In 1983, some villagers of Dounan imported the seedlings of gladiolus, and successfully planted them on their own plots. Many farmers began to follow suit. And they were not content with just gladiolus. They tried their hands with many other species: carnations, forget-me-nots, baby’s breath, orchids, you name it. They gradually turned their village into a place with flowers in full bloom all year long. 

With diligence, intelligence, and market acumen, people in Dounan quickly profited from their budding flower businesses.In the early 1990s, a 50-meter-long road in the village morphed into an open-air flower market before anyone realized. Every single day, flower farmers stood shoulder to shoulder on both sides of the road with baskets and bundles full of flowers, attracting buyers from afar. They are the pioneers of commercialized planting and trading of fresh cut flowers in China

A blossoming industry

Florists in Shangyi Street, the site of the best flower shops in central Kunming, got nearly all their supplies from Dounan even back in 1992 A group of ambitious young people left their village and tried their fortune in Guangzhou and Shanghai. They began to supply flowers to the two metropolises in 1993.The first village-level flower market in China came into being in Dounan in 1995, with a land area of roughly one acre.It’s upgraded into China’s first-ever large-scale professional trading market in 1999, covering nearly four acres. Fresh cut flowers have gradually become the pillar industry in Dounan.The construction of China’s first flower auction center completed here in 2002, ushering in a new era of transparent bidding in flower trading in Dounan.

From roadside market to standardized modern auction center, Dounan constantly upgrades and leads the trend.Nowadays, Dounan brings together the most eye-catching all-season flower species found in Yunnan and across Southeast Asia. It has also built the entire industrial chain complete with five centers, including the national flower trading center, the flower tourism and exhibition center, the flower logistics center, the flower financial center, and the flower big data information center.

It has created two well-known Chinese trademarks in the flower industry: Dounan& Dounan Figure and KIFA &KIFA Figure, and has become the core of fresh cut flower trading in China and Asia. Dounan Flower has also become the top brand name in China's flower industry, the unequivocal representative of Chinese flowers. Dounan flower market is also regarded price barometer of China's flower industry. 

Other secondary businesses have sprung up, ranging from horticultural materials, seedlings, logistics, wedding etiquette, cultural creativity, to talent training, cultural tourism and many others.  

A most promising prospect within reach

From the humble origin of gladiolus blossoms to an industry worth billions of dollars, Dounan has become the trading hub essential to the vibrancy of all aspects of the industry, given it fresh cut flowers trade, exhibition, tourism, logistics, or anything else insiders can name. The success story never fails to inspire.

Following 40 years of development, Dounan has built itself into a flower industry belt with two major facilities: Dounan Flower Market and Kunming International Floral Auction Center. Its current scale ranks the first in Asia and the second in the world. Such rapid growth in a relatively short period of time is rarely seen in the world’s flower industry.

It’s generally agreed that Yunnan boasts the best flowers in China and Dounan has the best flowers in Yunnan. More than 80 percent of Yunnan’s fresh cut flowers are traded in Dounan. With the addition of flowers from neighboring provinces and Southeast Asia, the trade volume in Dounan accounts for more than 70 percent of the national total.

The trade volume and market value in Dounan have topped the nation for 24 consecutive years, further consolidating its status as a pivotal trade hub. 2022 saw the number of fresh cut flowers and the associated trade volume both surpass ten billion for the first time, reaching 11.036 billion and 12.147 billion yuan respectively. These estimates have increased substantially in the first ten months of 2023. The number of flower traded reached nearly 12 billion, a robust increase of 20 percent compared to the same period last year. And the trade volume is up by 7.7 percent, exceeding 11.4 billion yuan.

Dounan’s success story originated from gladiolus. 40 years on, Dounan has become the center of China’s flower trade and the best calling card of Chenggong. When night falls, Dounan Flower Market ushers in the busiest time of the day. Dounan used to pride in selling Yunnan’s homegrown flowers to the entire nation. Now it aims at becoming the global center of flower trade. Produces of global origins will be traded here in state-of-the-art, reliable and trustworthy environment. Professional traders and ordinary flower admirers alike are able to find the shares of fragrance, colors and shapes that thrill them most.