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On the waterways of Jiangnan, boatmen arrive carrying fresh flowers. When their boats gather together, they form a floating market known as the "Flower Boat Market." Hardly anyone uses cash here. Instead, people barter with special "flower tokens."\nYou'll find lush, vibrant blooms like peonies and roses alongside intensely fragrant gardenias and golden osmanthus. On a sunny afternoon, their perfume carries down the river long before the boats even appear. Drifting among them, you forget you're in a marketplace at all. It feels like gliding through a spring garden in full bloom.\nInterestingly, some of the flowers sold here are meant for the kitchen. Jasmine is used to scent tea, giving it a refined, delicate aroma. Loofah and pumpkin blossoms are lightly battered and deep-fried until they look like shards of gold, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. First-timers often laugh in disbelief, wondering how on earth you could eat a flower, only to be completely won over by their first bite.\nSomeone once challenged me on this, saying, "Flowers are elegant things meant for a vase. How can you throw them into a cooking pot?" I didn't bother arguing. I just served him some tea and pastries. He took a sip and praised the rich, mellow tea, then took a bite and raved about the sweet pastry. I smiled and told him, "That's just rose-petal cake and osmanthus honey." He didn't have another word to say. It's funny. Considering these ingredients are traditionally prescribed to soothe the throat, they certainly left him speechless.\nBy nature, flowers bloom briefly before fading. Left in a vase, they slowly lose their color and scent until, a few days later, they are thrown out with the dust. But edible flowers are harvested at the peak of their beauty to be turned into teas, wines, soups, and sweets. Their fragrance gets to bloom one last time on the tongue before disappearing forever. Which is the better fate? I suppose every flower has its own preference. It's not for me to say.\nThen there are medicinal flowers like honeysuckle and magnolia buds, used to clear heat, draw out toxins, and clear the mind. By the time the ornamental blooms make their grand appearance at the river market, these healing flowers are likely already resting quietly in apothecary drawers. Given that their true purpose is to help people, I imagine they are more than happy to be consumed.