2025 Spring Festival: Flowers from southwest China's Yunnan bloom in overseas markets
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Flowers are one of the most sought-after items on the Spring Festival shopping list.

Yunnan Province in southwestern China is famous for its flower production, and its dazzling blooms are starting to gain popularity overseas.

CGTN's Yang Jinghao in Yunnan and Dusita Saokaew in Bangkok show us how flowers from Yunnan are making their way to the world. 

YANG JINGHAO Kunming, Yunnan Province "Welcome to the 'Kingdom of Flowers.' I'm here in Kunming, the capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province. Every year, billions of flowers are cultivated here, brightening homes across the country. Now, these blooms are also making their way to markets around the world."

Kunming Customs says in the first 11 months of 2024, the export value of fresh-cut flowers from Yunnan exceeded 600 million yuan, or about 83 million US dollars, marking a year-on-year increase of more than 34-percent. 

Xie Yaorong started exporting fresh-cut flowers in 1999 and has kept expanding to overseas markets. He says Yunnan's flowers are gaining increasing international recognition. 

XIE YAORONG Flower Exporter, Yunnan Province "Our production volume is quite considerable, and we have a wide variety of flowers with excellent quality. We also have a well-established quality grading system, ranging from Grade A to Grade E. Grades A and B are able to enter the international market."

According to several exporters we spoke with, Southeast Asian countries, especially Vietnam and Thailand, are emerging as a major market for flowers from Yunnan. 

XIE YAORONG Flower Exporter, Yunnan Province "In Thailand, we can ship around 20 truckloads a month. During festive seasons like now, that number rises to about 40 truckloads a month, with each truck carrying approximately 400,000 stems."

Yunnan serves as China's gateway to Southeast Asia. With extensive transportation networks, including land, air and rail, the province has made great efforts to boost the global reach of its flowers. 

YANG JINGHAO Kunming, Yunnan Province "These flowers are set to be delivered to Thailand via cold chain transportation. Let's follow my colleagues there to see how they will be received by the local community. Over to you, Dusita. Happy New Year!" 

DUSITA SAOKAEW Bangkok, Thailand "Thank you so much! Happy New Year! Fortunately, for Thais like myself, thanks to newly built expressways and modernized customs agreements between China and Thailand, these flowers from Yunnan now arrive here in record time."

Enter the Belt and Road Initiative. When the Kunming-Bangkok Expressway unfurled its smooth lanes across rugged terrain, a new chapter began. Trucks laden with freshly cut blooms now glide from Yunnan's cool highlands to Thailand's tropical embrace in just a few days. 

VIKROM KROMADIT Chairman, Thailand-China Business Council "I think that highway in Thailand we call Asia Highway, always connecting ASEAN and connect to China. The option to have the speed train is always you make additional of the logistics support. So, if you have you know that go together by the BRI, I think that it will be more value added and then it will be made more efficient."

Advanced cold chain technology ensures the flowers arrive in pristine condition, their petals unblemished and vibrant. 

At Bangkok's Flower Market, vendors now display Yunnan fresh-cut flowers, beside local orchids, lilies and sunflowers, creating a kaleidoscope of endless arrangements. 

PHATCHAMON SAELAO Florist "Roses are very popular, especially red roses. The carnations also sell well, because they are long-lasting. When they are in a bouquet, they last for a long time. So, customers like it."

THANCHANOK SRITHANEADCHAI Buyer "Last week, I bought some roses. They last so long, so I came back to buy them again. I bought imported roses because their colors are beautiful."

Each petal, vibrant and unyielding, carries the legacy of mountains crossed and borders bridged. In their bloom lies a simple notion – that beauty transcends boundaries, and a shared future can blossom from the smallest of seeds.