Flower power gives fragrance during Spring Festival

With Spring Festival approaching, many Chinese people have started to prepare for the traditional celebration by growing a flower, the Chinese daffodil. Fan Chunyan, a flower hobbyist in Shanghai, bought two Chinese daffodil bulbs on 25 December 2021. When it blooms, the fragrance is so mesmerising that the festival feels incomplete without it.” In the Hongqiao Flower Market of Shanghai, vendors have been putting plates of daffodil bulbs on their shelves. The first batches of Chongming daffodils for this winter, cultivated by the Shanghai Chongming Narcissus Professional Co-operative, which is based in the city’s Chongming Island district, were delivered to flower shops on 20 December 2021. Shi Kesong, founder of the Shanghai Chongming Narcissus Professional Co-operative, works with flower growers to bundle the daffodils Shi Kesong, founder of the co-operative, said Chinese have been planting daffodils in Chongming for at least 500 years, according to Shanghai historical texts, but it was not until the early 20th century that planting them advanced from being a hobby to a profitable business.