Early on Friday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, shops in the central Chinese city of Wuhan were selling out of chrysanthemums as residents bought them to take to the grave or home of a deceased family member. Throughout Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, it is a tradition to visit the household of a person who has died in the last lunar year to offer flowers and burn incense soon after midnight. This year, demand for the flowers for shao qing xiang or “burning incense” was particularly high, with many residents buying the yellow and white chrysanthemums to remember those who died from the coronavirus . Resident Wen Ji said she avoided the crowds this year and stayed home but friends told her of traffic jams around Wuhan’s largest flower market, near Xunlimen district, and people fighting over flowers. At Chili Flower Wholesalers near the market, the shop’s owner said they had sold out of chrysanthemums partly because of high demand but also due to shortages caused by Covid-19. Some farmers planted fewer flowers as a result of coronavirus disruptions or concerns about another possible outbreak, according to the shop owner, who only gave her surname Chi. “The city is selling out of chrysanthemums. I’ve heard of one chrysanthemum flower selling for as much as 100 yuan [US$15]. So I’ve been suggesting carnations or roses to customers as well. They can also be for mourning,” Chi said. Coronavirus: in Wuhan, Lunar New Year brings remembrance of loved ones lost Wuhan was the first epicentre of the coronavirus and went into lockdown for 76 days last year to try to rein in the disease’s unchecked spread. Authorities also built temporary hospitals and sent medical teams from other provinces to help, with the city’s death toll standing at 3,869 as of Saturday. While China has largely controlled the outbreak within its borders, residents in Wuhan and elsewhere said they were concerned that the trauma of the early days of Covid-19 were being quickly forgotten. Mainstream media outlets, including Sina News and the Hubei Economic Television channel, published Weibo posts reporting that the crowds at the flower market were engaged in festive new year shopping. The posts prompted angry comments online. “What kind of flowers were they buying, are you brave enough to explain? The flowers needed for ‘burning incense’ were selling out. Where were people going after midnight, do you know?” a Weibo user wrote in response to a Sina News article. Those comments were deleted but a screenshot of them was shared by Chinese historian Tan Boniu, attracting more than 120,000 likes and 27,000 shares. Coronavirus: Wuhan counts down to Lunar New Year – and recovery Commenters on Tan’s post also took aim at CCTV for failing to acknowledge the personal suffering during the pandemic in the state broadcaster’s annual Spring Festival Gala , a variety show watched by millions to usher in the Lunar New Year. “At the end of the Spring Festival Gala, the host said: ‘This year proved that there are no winters that cannot be overcome.’ I really could not accept this. Time stopped forever for many people, what do you mean to overcome?” one popular comment beneath Tan’s post said. “I would have thought the Spring Festival Gala would allocate a segment to explain the sacrifices of the Hubei people, and remember those who passed away. But no,” another user wrote. “There are no winters that cannot be overcome, but there are no winters that can be easily overcome. What about those who couldn’t overcome? This didn’t happen a long time ago.”