Wang Jingli

wangjingli0715@163.com

MANY citizens in Shenzhen are snapping up flowers and decorations at flower stalls located across the city as the Chinese New Year is on the horizon.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Spring Festival Flower Fair was canceled this year, replaced by nearly 3,200 flower stalls set up in 72 subdistricts in the city for citizens to prepare for the upcoming Spring Festival.

At a square outside the InJoy, a shopping mall in Meilin Subdistrict in Futian District, the reporter found that there are some 50 temporary booths selling stuff ranging from flowers, potted tangerine trees and Spring Festival couplets to traditional Chinese snacks.

A citizen surnamed Chen bought two pots of Phalaenopsis Aphrodite during the reporter’s visit. Chen, who came to Shenzhen three years ago, said she will stay in Shenzhen during the Spring Festival holiday for the first time.

Chen said that she passed by the stalls and decided to buy some flowers for the Chinese New Year. The flowers sold at the stalls are pretty, said Chen.

Another citizen identified by her surname as Liu said that she used to stroll around the annual Spring Festival Flower Fair.

“The annual flower fair creates a more festive atmosphere and offers more choices. I can buy many different types of fresh flowers from the fair and then do flower arrangement on my own at home. But the types of flowers sold here is limited,” said Liu.

However, Liu suggested that she understands that the city canceled the fair this year given the pandemic.

A stall owner surnamed Luo told the reporter that they did not see a satisfying customer flow over the past four days.

Another flower stall seller surnamed Yang expects that there will be more customers coming to buy flowers in the following few days as the Spring Festival comes closer.

There are a total of 59 temporary sites in the city, each having over 20 flower stalls, according to the municipal urban management authority.

In addition to the temporary sites set up for residents to buy flowers, other available places include the city’s flower markets and flower shops.

The temporary flower sites are scheduled to be open before tomorrow and, and not to close until after Feb. 11. All must be closed before Feb. 27, according to the authority.