As the Spring Festival nears, flower markets in China are thriving, with sales taking place both in-person and online through livestreams.

Sales of decorative flowers have grown rapidly since mid-January, with an overall increase of 170 percent year-on-year, according to Chinese e-commerce platform Meituan.

Traditionally, Chinese people purchase flowers before the Spring Festival for decoration or good luck in the upcoming year.

Since January, the volume of flowers shipped has increased by 86 percent compared to the average figure and by 11 percent compared to the same period last year.

The butterfly orchids planted in south China's Guangdong Province and southeast China's Fujian Province are popular not only with locals, but also with people in central China's Hubei Province and south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. A large number of Bougainvillea spectabilis from Fujian's Zhangzhou City are sold to other cities in the province as well as Guangdong.

The Chinese roses grown in central China's Henan Province are favored by people in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality. More sunflowers in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region are sold to Guangxi, east China's Shandong Province and Hunan Province in central China.

For people in Beijing, they prefer butterfly orchids and lucky bamboos, while in Shanghai, people are more interested in narcissus.