Everything is different in China —  even flower bouquets.

I don’t know how I’d describe the flower bouquets in the U.S., but I would say that in general, they’re pretty un-fussy, wrapped in some clear plastic and maybe tissue paper. I don’t recall ever really noticing the wrapping, unless they’re in a vase or something.

In China, I always notice the wrapping, because they’re so dramatic! Flowers are almost always nestled in layers of thick, colored construction paper and iridescent tulle, with a big bow around the whole foamy concoction. Often, the flowers themselves are decorated with sparkly rhinestones. It’s hard to see in this picture, but my roses had purple mesh wrapped around each bud. This is all actually very consistent with the general style that Chinese women seem to favor — super fancy and feminine, lots of bows, rhinestones, lace, pink, fluffiness on clothes, shoes, bags, hairpieces, etc., etc.  

What I like about these bouquets is that they often don’t require a separate vase. Under the thick wrapping is a block of wet foam, and the bouquet can just sit by itself on desks, floors, whatever. What I don’t like about these bouquets is that 1. they weigh, like, 5 lbs because of the wet foam and the super thick wrapping. 2.  You can only appreciate the flowers from the top (bird’s eye) view, because all you see is wrapping from the side view and these bouquets are super tall — at least 20 inches high. 3. They’re also a huge pain to take apart, because there are yards and yards of tulle and construction paper stapled around the flowers.
But this is just an observation, not a complaint! I am grateful and overjoyed whenever I get flowers! I LOVE FLOWERS!

Anyway, while we’re on the subject of bouquets, I want to point out that China also has a lot of these stuffed animal bouquets. I think this is of “‘Xi Yangyang and Hui Tailang,” (“Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf”), a very popular cartoon character in China. I find these bouquets to be hilarious and awesome, and I don’t even like stuffed animals (which makes me a bit of an anomaly among women in Asia, by the way).