Children skateboard at the pedestrian street outside One Avenue shopping mall in Futian District yesterday, the main venue of this year’s Shenzhen Spring Festival Flower Fair that opens today. The fair will last through Monday, Chinese New Year’s Eve. Traditionally, in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, people stroll through flower markets and buy flowers before the Spring Festival for decoration or good luck in the coming year.
This year’s Shenzhen Spring Festival Flower Fair, with its main venue at the pedestrian street near One Avenue shopping mall in Futian District, officially kicks off today. Citizens can visit the fair to get their Chinese New Year flower decorations.
The fair, dotted with seven floral exhibitions, including Shenzhen official flower bougainvillea and tiger-shaped designs to mark the Year of the Tiger, will last until Monday, Chinese New Year’s Eve.
Given the latest wave of the COVID-19 cases, the flower fair reduced the number of stalls to 61 from a few hundred previously. However, citizens can visit e-commerce platforms such as Meituan and Pupu Mall to purchase New Year flowers online, according to Li Xili, a staffer in charge of the flower fair.
In addition to potted and fresh flowers, some booths also sell festival snacks and other decorations like Spring Festival couplets and red lanterns.
To get to the fair, the closet Metro stations are Gangxia (Line 1), Convention and Exhibition Center (Lines 1 and 4) and Civic Center (Lines 2 and 4). There are also more than 10 bus stations near the fair.
Aside from the main venue, there are 23 small-sized flower fairs in Futian’s 10 subdistricts, including the Xiangmihu Flower Wonderland and Bagualing Flower Center. These flower markets have over 400 stalls in total, according to Futian’s urban management authority.
Due to the pandemic, residents are advised to follow safety protocols required at these venues.
Traditionally, in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, people stroll through flower markets and buy flowers before the Spring Festival for decoration or good luck in the coming year.