culture

Flower shops and stands in Pyongyang refresh people in balmy spring.

The Kaeson Flower Shop located in Moranbong District is well-known for the kind flower order service.

It looks like a beautiful flower garden as it is replete with varieties of flowerpots and flower goods, watered flowers in full bloom and ornamental plants.

The shop sells various kinds of flowers such as rose, carnation, freesia and bellflower, bouquets and dried flowers and its employees also make flower baskets to order.

Choe Kyong Sun, one of the employees, made a lovely and ornate flower basket for birthday soon after a middle-aged man ordered it. She also explains customers the symbolic meanings and characteristics of different beautiful flowers. An ice hockey player said with a smile of satisfaction on his face that he would present a rose chosen by Choe to his daughter on her birthday.

Yang Kum Son, head of the shop, said that the demand of flower orderers is increasing along with the improvement of the people’s cultural and emotional life.

“In particular, we have large orders beyond our ability on March 8 International Women’s Day, Mother’s Day and the anniversary of the promulgation of the Law on Sex Equality,” she said.

She added that they choose bouquets and flower baskets different in kind, form and decoration.

The shop is always crowded with many people, including those choosing flowers and bouquets for their colleagues who have moved into new houses or a mother who has given birth to triplets, a young man selecting in delight a flower favoured by his love, boys and girls ordering bouquets for birthday or wedding, students asking for bouquets to be presented to their teachers who have devoted their whole life to education and schoolchildren vying to choose flowers for a war veteran. Many other people visit the shop with a special interest in ornamental plants, flowerpots and dried flowers with which they are going to beautify their homes and workplaces.

In order to meet the ever-growing demand of customers, the shop offers various services in close contact with the Pyongyang Floriculture Institute and different floricultural farms.