Chinese New Year Flower Market HONG KONG
Pretty excited that the government didn’t end up canceling the flower market due to COVID-19 so I had the chance to visit - my Chinese New Year flower market, ever! Since moving to Hong Kong, I have noticed that flowers play an important role during Chinese New Year; a few weeks prior to the holiday, orange trees, peach blossoms, and orchids start to appear throughout the front doors of shops and atriums of malls. The bright colors naturally illuminates the space, and of course, bring a lovely sense of auspiciousness into the air!
The Chinese New Year Flower Market at Victoria Park in Causeway Bay is massive. I didn’t realize how big it was going to be until getting there. The various vendors surrounded the entire circumference of the sports field in the middle of the park. There were a lot of selection - whether it’s size or color of different types of flowers. But the main selections for variety were of course around the Chinese New Year theme: oranges shrubs, peaches blossoms, and orchids for wealth, auspiciousness, and peace!
Chinese New Year Flower Market, Victoria Park, Causeway Bay
Orange shrubs at Chinese New Year Flower Market, Victoria Park, Causeway Bay
How to Get There
There are multiple flower markets throughout Hong Kong this upcoming week of February 6-February 11, 2021, but the one I went to, which I believe is the largest one, is located in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay.
We took the MTR to Causway Bay Station and got out at Exit E. There are signs along the street pointing to the park and once in the park, you cannot miss it!
Social Distancing & Crowd Status Update
Originally the flower markets were to be cancelled due to COVID-19, but then a few days later the government reverted on its original decision and decided to keep them open but with crowd control measures.
You can find the visitor flow status by the Hong Kong SAR Government to plan your trip accordingly. If over-crowding occurs, you may need to line up or go on the website to get a ticket to wait for your turn. I went on a Sunday afternoon and it was perfectly fine with no waiting!
Flower Selections
As stated above, the main selections are in tune with the Chinese New Year theme for auspiciousness! Hence your staples would be orange shrubs, peach blossoms, and orchids! We did spy a few vendors selling lettuce, herbs, and other flowers but only a few out of all the vendors.
Pricing
While all the stores carry similar types of flowers, the prices definitely vary from store to store. Some places sold small 2-3 branch orchids for $68 while others sold them for $368. The peach blossoms I ended up getting was quite a good deal - I had a huge bundle of one giant branch and 4 smaller branches, which all together looked like a small tree for $168 and other shops were selling them for $368. One shop were selling 2 cherry branches for $368! So definitely do walk around and ask for prices. They can be either very affordable or very expensive depending on the shop!
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I’m really glad I got to go to the Chinese New Year Flower Market this year as it is such a uniquely local experience and a wonderfully enriching and unique tradition of Hong Kong during this time of festivities.
