Why is the Chunlan 'Tianyihe' orchid in "Gu Yu" so expensive and hard to popularize and make accessible to ordinary people?

A recent online drama "Gu Yu" has brought orchids into the spotlight, with a character committing murder over a pot of orchids. Viewers who do not understand the situation will surely ask, what kind of orchid is it that drives people so crazy?

The orchid in the drama is actually the Tianyihe of the Chunlan (Cymbidium goeringii) genus. This is a round-headed dwarf Chunlan. Because it combines a short and sturdy plant shape, golden flower color, lotus-petal form, and plain heart, it matches the characteristics of a top-grade Chinese orchid. It is said to be worth 5 million yuan per seedling, which shows just how precious it is.

Orchids hold a special meaning in China. Among the Four Gentlemen are "plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum," and there are countless poems and verses describing the beauty of orchids. Such a flower should by rights be popular, and at the very least most Chinese households should keep a pot, but the fact is that this is not the case. Why is it that Chinese people clearly like orchids yet few grow them?

This can be explained from several aspects. Ever since the orchid market was speculated on by capital, it seemed as if overnight all orchid growers were searching for famous varieties such as lotus-petal, plain-heart, and plum-petal types, because the profit effect of famous orchid varieties was simply too great. In orchid-producing areas, people frantically searched for famous variety orchids, while some ordinary orchids were thrown away and discarded without being properly cared for, causing the resources of ordinary orchid varieties to be greatly wasted.

Under the profit effect, no one grew ordinary orchids anymore, and no one sold ordinary orchids anymore. Even if ordinary people wanted to grow a few pots of ordinary, affordable orchids, they had nowhere to find them. After all, not everyone has the spending power to afford high-priced orchids, so ordinary orchid enthusiasts were once forced to give up orchids.

The fact that no one cultivated ordinary wild-collected orchids also created a gap in growing techniques. Those who bought famous variety orchids all carefully used various high-tech methods to care for their orchids, hoping to make money as soon as possible. Instead, they disdained the most natural orchid-growing methods. Over time, these high-tech orchid-growing methods also made ordinary orchid enthusiasts shrink back, thinking that orchids were simply too difficult to grow and that they might as well give up.

If Chinese orchid culture is to be carried forward and flourish, it must be nationwide in nature. Only when everyone likes orchids and everyone knows how to grow orchids can orchid culture become widespread. The purpose of orchid culture is to seek its elegance; it should not be a "spring snow" pursuit only for making money, but also needs the "lower Riba" quality of being integrated into life.

Only with more promotion of growing techniques for ordinary orchids and more natural cultivation of ordinary orchids can orchids truly enter ordinary people's homes.