The coming Spring Festival has fuelled a boom in the flower markets in Shanghai since more people buy flowers as their new year greeting to relatives, friends, business partners or as home decoration.

With the approach of the Chinese New Year, which falls on January 22 this year, the local flower markets have already seen a nearly 60 percent rise in the best-selling flowers like lily, and those with auspicious names such as Fuguizhu, which means bamboo of wealth in Chinese, and Jixiangguo, meaning fruits of good luck.

In the Jingwen Flower and Plant Market, the biggest wholesale flower market in Shanghai, prices of roses and lilies have already risen to 5 yuan (60 US cents) each from 3 yuan previously.

"The number of visitors has doubled or even tripled the past few days," said Sheng Xingzhong, director of Shanghai Jingwen Flower and Plants Market Co Ltd. "The rise in prices of flowers is only a start as a further price hike will come in the following days." Besides flower shops, Websites that offer online flower booking service are swamped with orders these days.

"We have received more than a hundred orders so far," said a manager, surnamed Hu, with the e-business department of Jingwen Afforestation and Arts Development Co Ltd. Its Website (www.jwhy.com.cn) is among China's largest online flower shops, she said.

"The real peak of our holiday services will come on January 19 to January 21. Recently the number of clicks to our Website is twice to three times the ordinary level. Using our service to book flowers has become a popular choice among Shanghai people, especially the young," Hu added.

One spotlight this year is that some high-priced plants are beginning to show their presence in the city's flower markets since a large number of buyers are using flowers as token of greetings to relatives or business partners, said market observers.

Flowers like the big-potted orchid imported from South Korea and Japan cost between 380 yuan and 3,500 yuan. Hu added these high-priced plants are now dominant in the online booking service, making up more than 80 percent of sales.

(Shanghai Daily January 19, 2004)