Phan Dinh Phung Street has long been known as the capital's photography street. At times, a section of the street is packed with locals and tourists, leading many to call this place "10 virtual people per square meter".
Recently, Japan's leading newspaper Nikkei Asia published an article about this famous street in the capital. The newspaper said that flower sellers on bicycles loaded with colorful flowers for many years in the capital Hanoi are expanding their operations by renting out their bouquets for people to take souvenir photos.
Phan Dinh Phung Street has two rows of shady old trees, is picturesque near Hanoi's Old Quarter, with French-style houses and historical buildings, and is often crowded with tourists .
There was a time on weekends when a section of Phan Dinh Phung Street was packed with people taking pictures. Local authorities had to put up signs warning people not to spill onto the road, causing traffic congestion.
“This place is so lovely. I want to come here once in my life,” said a 26-year-old woman from another part of Vietnam. Holding a bouquet of bright red roses, yellow sunflowers and pure white lotus flowers, she happily posed for photos with her friends.
Phan Dinh Phung Street is a gathering place for fresh flower sellers, many of whom are elderly women wearing traditional conical hats…
Initially, these women carried flowers grown in the countryside on bicycles and sold them all over Hanoi, with local people buying them to offer to Buddhist altars at home or display in their workplaces.
Colorful bouquets of fresh flowers carried on bicycles have long become a beauty of the capital.
In recent years, many street flower vendors have become increasingly popular among young people for taking photos to post on social media, some of whom wear traditional ao dai and bring their own photographers in the hope of getting the perfect shot. Therefore, they no longer wander the streets carrying their flower vendors, but stay in one place, waiting for photographers to come to them.
This style of photography has also become popular among foreign tourists to Hanoi. Before the pandemic, there were more than 18 million tourists to Vietnam in 2019 and in 10 months of 2023, there were more than 10 million.
Sensing that customer demand lay in the beauty of the photograph, florists adapted their products, selling bouquets instead of individual flowers and sometimes coloring the petals.
Bouquets of flowers are rented for photo shoots, rather than for sale.
A bouquet of flowers from a vendor usually costs between VND80,000 and VND100,000, which is quite expensive for a photo to post on social media. Expensive varieties like lotus flowers can cost up to VND150,000. Tourists do not need the bouquet after taking a photo and throwing it away is an unattractive option because it is wasteful.
Therefore, the flower seller has applied the flower rental model, customers can rent a bouquet of flowers for 30,000 - 50,000 VND, take a photo and return the flowers to the seller.
A 58-year-old florist said: Thanks to the rental service, flower sales have increased 2-3 times. A woman from the countryside who came to the city to start a career selling fresh flowers in the capital, her income has skyrocketed after starting the bouquet rental service this year.
The traditional way of transporting flowers by bicycle helps attract customers so sellers are making a bigger profit with the same amount of flowers they transported before.
Flowers are well cared for and rented out for sale.
"Vietnam has seen remarkable economic growth and its cityscapes have changed in the blink of an eye. Hanoi's fresh flower vendors evoke nostalgia for the city's past, but they have a deep understanding of what modern travelers want," Nikkei Asia commented.
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