This spring, slow down and smell the flowers

Like Zheng, many other people nationwide just want to take some time to smell the roses. Data from travel agencies showed that demand for flower tours surged as soon as March arrived.

A report released last month by Qunar, an online travel agency based in Beijing, said during the first week of the month, the number of bookings for such tours was 1.5 times higher than the same period last year.

This year's flower viewings will be dominated by local tours, and demand for private and tailor-made tours has increased because of the COVID-19 epidemic, the agency's report said.