People stroll around the flower market

On 1st February, the 2016 Dongguan Spring Festival Flower Fair opened in the Central Business District of Nancheng District. Florists predict that the price of flowers this year willgenerally be higher than in previous years.

This year's winter flower fair will last from 1st to 7th February. It is divided into exhibition areas such as peach flowers, tangerines, premium flowers and New Year supplies. There are over 380 large-scale exhibition booths, and it is expected that up to 20 million people will visit the fair. The biggest difference this year is the change of venue. It used to be held along Yuanmei Road, but this year has been moved to open space inNancheng District’sCBD behind Dongguan Broadcasting Station and Dongguan Customs, along Guihua 3rd and 4th Roads.

The main attraction of the market, the tangerine and butterfly orchids, has seen a significant price increase. Due to a diminished tangerine crops and therefore reduced supplies, a single pot of tangerines costs 200 RMB this year versus 180 RMB last year. The butterfly orchids, with crops affected by high temperatures, bloomed early. It is rare to see butterfly orchids on sale during the flower fair, soprices are estimated to rise approximately 30 percent.
pring Festival.

(By Stefanie Tan and Sev Pischl)