Every 10 flowers sold in China, 7 come from this one market. Dounan sets the price for Asia and ships to more than 50 countries every day — your direct gateway to the world's lowest-cost, highest-volume flower sourcing.
Forty years ago Dounan was a small farming village on the eastern shore of Dianchi Lake, outside Kunming in southwest China's Yunnan Province. Today it is the world's second-largest flower market after Aalsmeer (the Netherlands) and Asia's largest fresh-cut flower trading centre — a self-styled "Capital of Flowers" that supplies 70% of the fresh-cut flowers sold across China and exports to Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Russia, the Middle East and beyond.
Yunnan's mild plateau climate lets growers produce premium flowers year-round, making Dounan a reliable single-source destination for every major variety and every price point.
Beyond raw scale, Dounan gives importers three things no smaller market can match: breadth, transparent price discovery, and a fully built cold-chain export pipeline.
Roses, lilies, carnations, hydrangea, gerbera, gypsophila, eustoma, peony and 1,500+ more — graded to a unified national standard so "one lot, one grade, one price".
The KIFA electronic auction publishes live prices for every lot — real market discovery you can compare, quote and plan against, not one-off dealer quotes.
200+ refrigerated trucks, 50+ cold-chain routes, air-cold-chain capacity over 500 tonnes/day, and 24–48h delivery to 80+ core Chinese cities.
Kunming Changshui International Airport (KMG) connects to Asian and global gateways in hours; flowers leave Dounan packed and on the tarmac the same night.
The Kunming International Flora Auction Trading Centre (KIFA), launched in 1999 and upgraded to full electronic auction in 2012, is the heart of Dounan. On a hall that resembles a trading floor, 900+ registered seats, over 1,200 registered buyers and more than 8,000 registered suppliers trade 350–400 million stems a year.
Using the Dutch-style descending clock auction, twelve "clocks" roll prices down until a broker hits the button. A transaction clears on average in 1–4 seconds — at peak speed in 0.04 seconds. Every stem is quality-graded before it reaches the hall, and patented varieties have their licence fee collected automatically in the sale price, which is why so many international rose breeders now sell through Dounan.
Since February 2024, a remote auction system lets buyers anywhere in the world join the bidding live over the internet — a single transaction averages about four seconds.
Because Yunnan farms the land themselves, buyers deal with the growers' own produce and with regional flowers from across China that converge on Dounan. The market's breadth removes the need to stitch together dozens of suppliers.
Fresh-cut flowers are perishable and time is the enemy. Dounan's whole model is engineered around speed: harvest, grade, pack, chill and fly in under 24 hours.
| Export route | Typical transit | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| Kunming → Southeast Asia (BKK, SGN, SIN) | 1–2 days | Air (KMG) |
| Kunming → Japan / South Korea | 2–3 days | Air (KMG) |
| Kunming → Middle East (DXB, DOH) | 3–4 days | Air (KMG) |
| Kunming → Europe / USA | 5–7 days | Air via hub |
| Cold chain within China (80+ cities) | 24–48 h | Road + rail |
Dounan's modern logistics network coordinates refrigerated trucks, cold-chain railways and air cargo from the same campus. Cold-chain warehouses hold a 5–8 °C environment with ±0.5 °C precision, and high-value flower damage is held under 1.5%. Flowers bought at the night market can be packed, loaded and at Kunming Changshui airport by first light — reaching a buyer's cold room in a distant market within a few days.
For export, a professional freight forwarder handles the phytosanitary certificate, packing for air (sleeving, headroom, wet-pack), customs clearance and consolidation — turning Dounan's speed into a dependable international delivery.
Foreign buyers can register directly with KIFA for remote bidding, or work with a licensed local broker who holds a seat and sources on your behalf.
State stem length, head size, bunching, packaging and variety. Dounan's unified grading makes specing easy and reproducible.
Auction runs from early afternoon; the retail/wholesale night market peaks after dark and continues to 2–3 a.m. Order timing drives freshness.
Arrange cold-chain trucking to KMG, air space, phytosanitary certificate and import paperwork with your forwarder before the flowers leave the hall.
Agree a quality-inspection check at origin or destination so grade, count and condition match your order before you pay.
Dounan's rise is one of the great stories of Chinese agribusiness — a village that grew flowers, then built a market, then a global trading system.
Dounan farmers plant the first gladioli for sale, starting Yunnan's flower industry from scratch.
Kunming International Flower Auction Trading Centre (KIFA) is established, introducing Dutch-style auction, grading standards and formal trading.
38.87bn RMB in Hong Kong capital funds an upgrade to a 1,020-mu international market covering 810,000 m².
A purpose-built 67,000 m² electronic-auction trading hall opens; KIFA becomes Asia's No.1, world's No.2 flower auction centre.
Remote auction system goes live — international buyers bid in real time; volume hits 14.2bn stems.
Record year: 15.5bn stems and 13.48bn RMB in value, 27 straight years at No.1 nationally.
Goodhope Freight is a licensed international freight forwarder with deep roots in China's flower trade. We handle KIFA sourcing coordination, cold-chain trucking to Kunming Changshui (KMG), air space booking, phytosanitary and customs documentation, and delivery to your cold room — one partner, one shipment, one deadline.
sales8015@goodhopefreight.com