Florists are pinning their hopes for better business ahead of Lunar New Year at a popular flower market in Hong Kong, with a longer than usual road closure of 10 days providing more time for them to sell their products.
The flower supply has remained steady despite recent cold spells and low humidity, according to vendors, while some have branched out to selling products such as handicraft pot plants to boost business.
Much-sought-after flowers include orchids in white, yellow, purple and pink, peach blossoms flowers, yellow chrysanthemums, pussy willows, narcissus, gladiolus, peonies, mandarins and tangerine.
“The earlier closure means we can display our goods for longer without the worry of getting penalised [for blocking the streets],” said florist May Cheng, in her 50s, adding that she expected her shop to buy 20 to 30 per cent more stock as a result of the measure.
“It’s much more difficult to operate the business without the extra space at the shopfront, which also makes loading and unloading much easier.
“Officials have been a little more lax in getting us to move our stuff this year and we’ve been cooperative.”