China's flower sea construction is developing at a spurt; sound development requires a differentiated path

In recent years, although flower sea construction has only just started in China, it has shown a momentum of spurt-style rapid development. Although it has played an important role in promoting the transformation and upgrading of the flower industry as well as the development of leisure agriculture and flower tourism, industry insiders point out: blindly following the trend is not a good thing, and sustainable and sound development must be adapted to local conditions and follow a path of differentiated construction and development.

At present, although there is no clear figure for the national scale of flower seas, the fact that the pace of development is unstoppable is the unanimous view of those interviewed. Ding Yuesheng, chairman of the China Flower Sea Alliance, told reporters: "From Sanya in Hainan to the Northeast, and even Xinjiang, many flower seas have been built or are under construction across the country. It is more appropriate to describe this momentum as being in full swing, and it feels a bit overheated."

In Dali, Yunnan, five flower sea projects were launched for construction this year alone, with an area of around 5,000 mu. Li Bing, general manager of a flower company in Shiyan, Hubei, said their flower valley project started construction on November 23, and on that same day, multiple groups of people gathered from all directions in Lianhua to inspect the lotus exposition garden project. "We are preparing to establish China Lotus Flower Sea Development Co., Ltd., crowdfunding flower sea enthusiasts across the country, and cooperating to build the contiguous 5,000-mu lotus exposition garden into a nationally famous four-season flower sea with a lotus theme." said Peng Xinglong, director of the Lotus Industry Development Bureau of Lianhua County, Jiangxi Province.

Wang Xiaohua, secretary-general of the China Flower Sea Alliance and a senior lecturer in the Landscape Planning Department of Guangdong Eco-Engineering Polytechnic, specializes in ecological tourism scenic area design. He introduced: in Guangzhou, there are currently also six or seven flower sea projects under construction, including the pure flower sea model project "Million Sunflower Garden" covering 260,000 sq m and the "Lingnan Red Leaf World" with red leaves as its theme and a planned investment of 500 million yuan. "Although national flower sea construction and development is only at an initial stage of development, the momentum is very fierce. Some second-tier cities are also accelerating flower sea project construction. It can be said that flower sea construction has entered a period of rapid development. However, current flower sea construction is not mature enough in either design thinking or product positioning, and its profit point mainly relies on ticket revenue." Wang Xiaohua said.

Regarding the current spurt-style development momentum of flower sea construction across the country, Zhang Huizhong, manager of an agricultural development company in Yunhai, Dali, said bluntly: "It is not a good thing; blindly following the trend is very dangerous." The company has newly built a 1,500-mu flower sea in Yinqiao Town, Dali City, of which the lavender flower sea area reaches 1,039 mu. From July 28 this year to now, more than 150,000 visitors have entered the garden to admire the flowers. Zhang Huizhong said: "The opening of the lavender flower sea was actually a test of the market, but because many tourists came to admire the flowers, many people mistakenly believe that it seems easy to make money from flower seas with little technical content. In fact, that is completely wrong. Leisure agriculture is an industry that demands a great deal of professionalism, because with large investment and without government support it is impossible to do well. If it relies only on ticket sales, it is very difficult to break even. Without good planning and design, and without developing the other values of the flower sea, relying only on ticket sales will not make money."

Zhang Xinghua, general manager of an agricultural technology company in Changzhou, said in an interview with reporters: blindly following the trend is a common trait in every industry. Without market research and preliminary study, people rush in en masse when they see flower seas making money, and as a result flower seas are everywhere, and the varieties are all sunflowers, cosmos, Cleome hassleriana, tulips and so on. A flower sea where you put up a fence, scatter some seeds, and start charging has weak sustainability. Therefore, fee-charging flower seas that lack distinctive features and rely solely on ticket revenue will inevitably struggle. "If you want to keep going for the long term, preliminary investigation, positioning, and planning are very important. Make full use of the location conditions, history and culture, and other resources of the project site, and truly create a premium product, so that you can remain invincible in the survival of the fittest." Zhang Xinghua pointed out.

Ding Yuesheng specializes in wetland park construction and lotus flowering period regulation. According to his understanding: at present, many flower sea owners have crossed over into the flower sea industry from real estate, finance, entertainment, and other sectors. Due to a lack of flower sea construction and management technology, they neglect adapting to local conditions, develop blindly, and homogenization is very serious. For this reason, the China Flower Sea Alliance, which he initiated and established, aims to summarize lessons learned, better serve the industry, and let investors take fewer detours. Ding Yuesheng believes that flower sea construction must first combine multiple profit points, such as combining with the seed production industry. Even if there are not many visitors, profits can be increased and risks reduced through flower seed production; second, a broad environmental background must be chosen. Unless one has extremely great strength, it is better to develop by leveraging existing advantages. For example, building flower seas in tourism hotspot areas such as Lijiang, Dali, Tengchong, and Xishuangbanna gives a relatively greater chance of success; third, in places with inconvenient transportation and fewer tourists, flower sea construction should be done cautiously, but consideration can be given to creating flower seas mainly with woody flowering plants, making profits through the value appreciation of trees as they grow. Purely herbaceous flower seas are very prone to losses. Ding Yuesheng pointed out: "What matters in flower sea construction is considering how to attract visitors. It is necessary to avoid homogenization and to have eye-catching distinctive features, otherwise tourists will not easily spend money to buy tickets to enter the flower sea."

Ding Yuesheng's views coincide with those of Gao Yike, a professor at the School of Landscape Architecture of Beijing Forestry University. Gao Yike said in an interview with reporters: early flower sea landscapes mostly originated from production bases for industrial processing flowers and for flowers used in seed and bulb production. On this basis, through standardized maintenance of the landscape and improvement of the tourism system, extremely stunning flower sea landscapes were formed. At present, the main problem existing in flower sea construction is that there are relatively few plant species and homogenization is widespread, varieties lack distinctive features, and it is easy for them to become stereotyped. Therefore, although the flower sea landscape is stunning at first glance, it easily gives tourists a sense of monotony and fatigue.

Wang Xiaohua emphasized: flower sea construction must pay attention to distinctiveness, differentiation, and refinement, and must consider the development trend of the next 5-15 years. Investment in flower seas without a mature profit model must be made cautiously.