Tomorrow is Chinese Valentine's Day and flower sellers are hoping to make a buck from the romantic occasion that no one else in the world celebrates.
"Valentine's Day is the most important occasion for florists. Sales generated during the three-day [lead up to the] holiday is equal to a month's worth of regular sales," said Yang Hua-fung (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
He added that at this time last year the company generally rakes in about NT$4 million in sales, accounting for nearly 20 percent of its annual revenue.
Another florist estimated this year's sales should be even better, because this year's Valentine's Day -- or "Lover's Day" in Chinese -- falls on a weekday and not a weekend.
"Women enjoy the `face' they get when they receive flowers [at work] and are often inclined to ask their boyfriends to send them flowers to their offices during working hours," said Jessica Chang (張瑋容), owner of Jessica Florist, a flower shop on Taipei's Yi-tung Street.
Those looking to give their partners a big ego boost can expect to splash out an average of NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 for a Valentine's Day bouquet, much higher than the NT$1,000 average spent on Mother's Day.
"Consumers are more generous with their lovers rather than they are with their parents," Chang said.
The price of flowers traditionally surges during the holiday, but this year the increase has been less than in previous years.
"Ever since Taiwan entered the WTO, an increasing number of florists have imported flowers, bringing down prices," said Kuo Chih-wei (郭志偉), director of Christian Flower Shop on Taipei's Chi-nan Road.
According to Kuo, prices normally increase up to 50 percent at this time of year, but with the economy in low gear, the jump this year is about 30 percent.
"A dozen Ecuadorian-imported long-stem roses are currently going for a thin NT$2,300," he said.
The symbol of romance and love, roses are the top seller during Valentine's Day.
According to Kuo, about 30 percent of the roses sold are imported from Holland, Ecuador, Columbia and China.
Conversely, a dozen smaller Taiwanese roses retail for approximately NT$1,200.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS