Flower market sales are booming in southwest China ahead of the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day, with many people seeking decorative flowers and potted plants to enhance the festive atmosphere.

The Mid-Autumn Festival and the National Day will be on the same day- October 1, and the two festivals have pent up demand of flowers while driving up prices.

The Dounan Flower Market located in Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, is by far the largest fresh-cut flower trading market in Asia. The prices here will affect other flower markets across the country.

Zou Mingchuan works at a local horticultural company and this period is very busy as there are many bouquets that need sorting. He said that when it comes to holidays and celebrations, red roses and other special-occasion flowers tend to see soaring prices during these periods.

"The average price of roses is about 0.5-0.8 yuan (just over 0.075 U.S. dollars) per flower, but it will probably rise to more than one yuan during the National Day holiday," said Zou.

In addition to rising prices, the supply of fresh cut flowers will also increase.

"The demand for our flowers is strong in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. There is also demand from Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, and Myanmar as well," said Wang Shouhai, auction manager of the city's Dounan e-commerce trading center.

The price fluctuation in the local market only has a mild influence on potted flowers, but consumers have different choices of potted flower varieties during holidays.

"There will be more customers during the holidays as tourists tend to buy trendy, popular flowers which they deem pretty. Whether buying for yourself or as a gift, high-end flowers such as anthurium become a popular choice," said Li Chuanchuan, staff of a local flower company.

The Mid-Autumn Festival also known as the Lantern or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional holiday celebrated by the Chinese and people from east Asia. The festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month of the lunar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid-September to early October of the solar calendar. On this day, Chinese people believe that the moon is at its brightest and fullest size, coinciding with harvest time in the middle of Autumn.

The National Day, officially the National Day of the People's Republic of China, is celebrated annually on October 1 as a public holiday in the People's Republic of China, to commemorate the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. A long break of about seven days will be issued each year.