Flower Appreciation Economy and New Consumer Civilization

Liu Shimo

From the high-rise, I saw a flower bloom, and suddenly felt the warmth of spring all around me. Since March, the country has experienced a hot wave of spring flower viewing. Various flowers have bloomed across the country, such as the cherry blossoms in Wuhan's East Lake, the wind chimes valley in Nanning, Guangxi, and the plum blossoms in Yangzhou's West Lake, attracting countless people to stop and admire. According to data from Dianping, a popular review platform, the search volume for "flower viewing" has increased by 2.2 times compared to the same period last year.

Spring flower viewing has driven new economic development and fostered a new consumer civilization. Various new economic models such as "flower viewing + camping", "flower viewing + folk culture", and "flower viewing + creative industry" have been launched across the country, boosting new consumer spending in the tourism sector. Some areas have even opened dedicated flower-viewing trains, providing better services for tourists. Different travel policies, playstyles, and routes are constantly emerging, such as immersive flower-viewing night tours and camping trips. In some places, low-altitude aviation and flower viewing have been combined to create a new economic model, such as the 3 scenic flight routes set up at Chengdu's Shuangliu Airport, attracting many tourists and driving the development of "low-altitude + flower viewing" economy.

The floral economy not only directly drives an increase in tourism revenue but also provides numerous entrepreneurial opportunities, such as rural tourism, homestays, photography services, and guide services. This has led to a significant increase in job demand for these positions, helping to transform rural surplus labor into productive forces. Not only that, the floral economy has also promoted urban residents' migration to rural areas, forming a complementary relationship between city and countryside resources, pushing forward urban-rural integration and ecological value transformation.

The reason why the floral economy is so popular is that it not only has aesthetic value, with its vibrant colors, shapes, and scales creating a strong visual impact that meets people's pursuit of beauty, especially for photography enthusiasts. It also has spiritual value, providing a good leisure space for modern people who are busy with work and life to relax and unwind. Furthermore, the floral economy has cultural value, with China having a rich history of "Flower Festival" celebrations, where people worship flowers, take care of them, and pray for blessings. By integrating these cultural images into modern tourism products, it becomes an important driving force for the development of modern consumer civilization.

The floral economy is not just about making a quick buck; it also needs to be rationally developed. Over-commercialization of natural resources will lead to many problems. From an ecological perspective, some areas may use artificial control measures to regulate the blooming period of flowers, causing soil microorganisms to become imbalanced and harming natural resources. From an economic perspective, the floral economy's revenue streams are generally limited to a 15-20 day period when the flowers are in bloom. After the flowers wilt, the related scenic areas will enter a cycle of poverty and wealth, leading to seasonal economic dependence.

If we only view the floral economy as a seasonal consumer symbol, its prosperity is bound to be fleeting. However, if we reconstruct ecological development from an industrial perspective, we can create a sustainable business foundation. Breaking through the bottlenecks of the floral economy requires transforming "flower viewing" into "industrial development". By means of cultural innovation, technological empowerment, and industrial integration, we can upgrade industries such as agriculture, tourism, and high-tech from bottom to top, injecting new industry vitality.

As petals fall, it's no longer just the physiological cycle of plants, but the birth of a new consumer civilization. This is not only an extension of industries but also a milestone in the development of industrial civilization.

This article represents the author's personal views.