Dounan Flower Market

After the removal of the strict "household responsibility system" in 1979 that required locals to grow only sugar and rice, some decided to go a different route to vegetables, and were rewarded handsomely. Beginning in 1983 farmers in the city of Dounan moved toward flowers after seeing the success of a local man named Hua Zhongyi, who got the idea on a trip to Guangzhou. The results were tremendous and the industry rocketed, quickly making the city the richest in the region. Now, more than half of China's flowers come from Yunnan, with 80% of those passing through Dounan's market of 5,000 individual flower shops. More than 3 billion stems a year of over 600 different varieties go through the once-poor city. In fact, estimates indicate that flowers have lifted at least 20,000 farmers out of poverty. Of course the best time to visit a flower market is in the very early hours, from midnight to 7am but even at other times it can be interesting to wander around the bonsai shops.

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