START-UPS

A beautiful exploration by a Kunming girl

She wore a loose short-sleeved cotton shirt, her soft, long hair casu-ally tied up in a ponytail with a plain rubber band. The sense of strange-ness we felt when first meeting her was quickly eliminated by a faint smile on her face. Some people just seem to be born dream pursuers. Jing Lili is such a woman.

As a global base of fresh cut flowers, Kunming seemingly has no shortage of florists, yet many Kunming residents are currently complaining about a scarcity of out-standing and creative floral works. Ms. Jing had her own take on this seemingly contradictory situation, saying, “In fact, the variety of fresh cut flowers in Kunming is not partic-ularly great, and flowers in Kunming are mostly exported. Few people are willing to pay big bucks to import fresh cut flowers for floral works.”

 “Florists are also called floral designers. They make flowers more pleasing to the eye by arranging them in different ways to convey the subtle thoughts contained in flowers. The perfect combination of nature and man is reflected in every aspect. From flower arrangements to shape and plant placement, to the design of hotel lobbies, atria and small courtyards, this art forms the unique language of floristry, and is thus to be interpreted and comprehended by observers.

Walking into Jing Lili’s floral studio in the Global Finance Tower on Dongfeng Road in Kunming, the reporter would have thought he had come to the wrong floor and instead found a roomful of busy female stu-dents. “Is this the floristry training class?” In the studio, the reporter saw only scissors, pliers, wire and other 

tools. There were only a few flowers to be found, despite diligent search-ing. As if perceiving the reporter’s confusion, Ms. Jing suspended her seemingly boring work on a twig wreath and explained while smil-ing, “This is the last class for these students. They have to design their desired floral armatures rather than simply make flower arrangements. Put simply, it’s finding a vessel for floral works. The difference between an ordinary florist and an internation-al master sometimes lies in whether one applies himself to correcting a floral armature.”

Ms. Jing demonstrated every pro-cess herself, from innovative gluing, piercing, piling and paint spraying, to familiarization with every materi-al and tool. “With the same wire and twigs, you can build the Eiffel Tow-er or the Bird’s Nest, depending on what you conjure up in your mind when you touch the materials,” Jing Lili said. “The biggest difference between traditional flower arranging and flower arranging using arma-tures is that the latter requires more artistic talent and attainment.”

Jing Lili has a rich working ex-perience, having worked as a plan-ner and executive at the American Association of Advertising Agencies and a freelance photographer. She is a minor celebrity in artistic circles. Her most attractive aspect is that this “returnee” has brought flower arranging using armatures into the homes of ordinary people in Kun-ming

START-UPS

A beautiful exploration by a Kunming girl

She wore a loose short-sleeved cotton shirt, her soft, long hair casu-ally tied up in a ponytail with a plain rubber band. The sense of strange-ness we felt when first meeting her was quickly eliminated by a faint smile on her face. Some people just seem to be born dream pursuers. Jing Lili is such a woman. As a global base of fresh cut flowers, Kunming seemingly has no shortage of florists, yet many Kunming residents are currently complaining about a scarcity of out-standing and creative floral works. Ms. Jing had her own take on this seemingly contradictory situation, saying, In fact, the variety of fresh cut flowers in Kunming is not partic-ularly great, and flowers in Kunming are mostly exported. Few people are willing to pay big bucks to importfresh cut flowers for floral works. Florists are also called floral designers. They make flowers more pleasing to the eye by arranging them in different ways to convey the subtle thoughts contained in flowers. The perfect combination of nature and man is reflected in every aspect. From flower arrangements to shape and plant placement, to the design of hotel lobbies, atria and small courtyards, this art forms the unique language of floristry, and is thus to be interpreted and comprehended by observers. Walking into Jing Lilis floral studio in the Global Finance Tower on Dongfeng Road in Kunming, the reporter would have thought he had come to the wrong floor and instead found a roomful of busy female stu-dents. Is this the floristry training class? In the studio, the reporter saw only scissors, pliers, wire and other tools. There were only a few flowers to be found, despite diligent search-ing.As if perceiving the reporters confusion, Ms. Jing suspended her seemingly boring work on a twig wreath and explained while smil-ing, This is the last class for these students. They have to design their desired floral armatures rather than simply make flower arrangements. Put simply, its finding a vessel for floral works. The difference between an ordinary florist and an internation-al master sometimes lies in whether one applies himself to correcting a floral armature. Ms. Jing demonstrated every pro-cess herself, from innovative gluing, piercing, piling and paint spraying, to familiarization with every materi-al and tool. With the same wire and twigs, you can build the Eiffel Tow-er or the Birds Nest, depending on what you conjure up in your mind when you touch the materials, Jing Lili said. The biggest difference between traditional flower arranging and flower arranging using arma-tures is that the latter requires more artistic talent and attainment. Jing Lili has a rich working ex-perience, having worked as a plan-ner and executive at the American Association of Advertising Agencies and a freelance photographer. She is a minor celebrity in artistic circles. Her most attractive aspect is that this returnee has brought flower arranging using armatures into the homes of ordinary people in Kun-ming