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China, Yunnan province. Dounan, the city of flowers, Early in the morning around 2 a.m. the flower farmers come to the wholesale market of Dounan || The Beijing central governments "strategy for the development of the West" wants to turn the most backward province of Yunnan in the southwest of the country into a world center of the flower industry. Already 200 000 farmers grow mostly carnations, roses and gerbera on their tiny plots of land. "Da peng”, big hut, they call their small greenhouses, narrow tunnels made from bamboo poles and thin plastic..Early in the morning around 2 a.m. the flower farmers come to the wholesale market of Dounan. They already export to Japan, Russia, Australia. .For most of the flowers here, they would have to pay royalties to European breeders who created those varieties. But product piracy is common and in some way part of the development strategy..Plastic caps prevent the rose buds to open and also protect them from damage at transport. (KEYSTONE/LAIF/Hans-Juergen Burkard)