牡麗三郎的部落格

Chinese Valentine's Day pushes up flower prices

• Publication Date：08/16/2010
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  Steve Bercic

Lovers wanting to make a display of affection to their significant other with a gift of flowers on Chinese Valentine’s Day, or Qixi, Aug. 16 will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets.

Unusually hot weather over the past several months has led to a significant drop in flower supply, which in turn has caused prices to rise by some 50 percent as compared to the same time last year.

According to industry sources, another contributing factor to the decline in supply is the fact that last year’s low prices and resulting slim profits led many growers this season to opt against planting flowers because of the high risks and costs involved.

As a result, romantics will have to fork out at least NT$1,500 (US$47) for a bundle of locally grown flowers that last year could have been purchased for as little as NT$1,000.

More and more couples in Taiwan celebrate Valentine’s Day with such gifts as flowers and chocolates. Those with more time and money to spare go for a romantic dinner. The Qixi tradition, which dates back to the Han dynasty (206 B.C. to A.D. 220), is based on the mythical love affair between a cowherd and a weaver girl.

Legend has it that the Emperor of Heaven married his weaver daughter, or the star Vega, to a hard-working herder, or the star Altair. But the couple ended up spending too much time together, leaving their work unattended. The angry emperor then demanded that they meet only once a year on Qixi, literally, the seventh day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar.

More consumers are lavishing gifts on themselves this year to celebrate the occasion. For instance, sales of chocolate self-portraits on offer at local convenience stores have surpassed 50,000 in the two weeks ahead of Qixi.

During the same period, drugs and cosmetics chain store Cosmed has recorded daily sales topping 24,000 pairs of eyelid tape, a cosmetic gadget to make eyes look larger, rounder and more attractive.

Sources revealed that economically independent and single female office workers are the main purchasers of these items, thereby presenting another unforeseen business opportunity for merchants. (SB)

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