Ye Chunsheng, a retired professor from the Sun Yat-sen University and a folk culture expert, said Guangzhou's flower trade can be traced back more than 1,000 years to the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907-960), when farmers sold flowers in what is now Zhuangtou village in Haizhu district to the south of the Pearl River.
Flower markets assumed their current form gradually between the 1860s and 1920s when visiting them became a Lunar New Year custom in the provincial capital, with bamboo frames built to display and sell flowers as well as arts and crafts in designated streets closed temporarily in the few days before Spring Festival, he said.
Abraham Morse, a doctor from the United States working at Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, visited the flower market in Liwan district with his wife last year.
"It was busy and crowded with lots of activity and people of all ages. There was definitely a festive atmosphere. The entire wide avenue was closed off for a distance of about 1 kilometer.
"In the middle of the avenue were stalls mainly selling plants, flowers, pots, and other arts and crafts. Also some snack foods. The stores along the sidewalks of the street were also busy," Morse said.
The couple bought flowers, potted plants and decorative pots as well as snack foods.
"It is not hard to spend your money if you have a place to put what you can buy. We were primarily buying things to decorate the entrance to our apartment and in our apartment as well as the balcony. A few things were for gifts," Morse said.
"It would be a great place to visit to see many beautiful local products and get some sense of the culture of Chinese New Year."
Ye's family moved to Guangzhou when he was 16 and at that time jasmine was widely available in the flower markets.
Over the past 40 years, the varieties of flowers on offer have increased vastly and so have the prices, with balloons and toys also occupying the stalls now, Ye said.
"Folk culture comes from life and develops with life. The content has changed but the meaning of bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new by walking in the flower markets remains," Ye said.
With higher living standards, people now have more aesthetic demands with many families now pursuing artistic shapes and forms, Su said. "The flower markets in Guangzhou will surely become larger in the future, because living standards are higher and people's expectations have risen, hence the increased spending on festive flowers," Su said.
Official statistics indicate the flower markets in the 11 districts in Guangzhou drew 5.35 million visitors and generated revenue of 120 million yuan last year.
The flower markets marking the coming Year of the Dog started on Feb 12 in Guangzhou, with New Year's Eve falling on Feb 15.
