TPO – On a bitterly cold day, small traders selling peach blossoms and kumquats for Tet in Ha Tinh city lit fires to keep warm and set up tents right on the sidewalk to "guard" their peach blossoms and kumquats.
Small traders stay up all night "guarding" Tet flowers. (Clip: Hoai Nam) |
At 9 PM, amidst the cold, rainy weather, Mr. Nguyen Nhu Van (born in 1979, residing in Thach Trung ward) lit a fire and set up a makeshift shelter on the sidewalk to "guard" his peach blossom trees. This year, Mr. Van brought 800 peach blossom trees from the North to sell during Tet in Ha Tinh city. With 5 years of experience in the ornamental plant business, Mr. Van said that the Tet flower market here usually only gets busy after the 15th day of the 12th lunar month.
Mr. Van carefully selected each peach tree, hiring a truck to transport them to prevent breakage. He erected the large peach trees on the sidewalk, securing them with ropes to pre-arranged bamboo frames. Pointing to a peach tree, Mr. Van explained that this year he's selling not only branches but also whole trees to meet customer demand. The trees he sells are 3-5 years old and priced from 2-3 million VND. According to the vendors, due to the storms in the North this year, the purchase price of peach blossoms is higher than in previous years.
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Mr. Nguyen Nhu Van set up a makeshift stall on the sidewalk to guard the peach blossom trees for sale during Tet (Lunar New Year). |
"Since I started selling the flowers, I've been working tirelessly from day to night. I hope to sell all these peach blossoms by Tet. The flower selling business during Tet is very unpredictable; some years I sell everything, and other years I have leftovers," Mr. Van shared.
Ha Tinh is experiencing the coldest days of the year, with temperatures dropping sharply at night. In the biting cold, Xo Viet Nghe Tinh street (Ha Tinh city) is filled with the colors of spring: peach blossoms and pomelo branches. From small stalls set up along the sidewalks, behind the beautiful potted plants, small fires are lit, somewhat dispelling the chill of the last days of winter.
"It gets quite cold at night, so it's very hard work. But in our group, we take turns staying up all night to guard the peach trees and ornamental plants. It's cold at night in the shed, the temperature drops sharply, so every time we have to stay up all night, we can't sleep," said Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh.
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People lit fires to keep warm during the night. |
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People lit fires in makeshift shelters on the sidewalk. |
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The vendors are busy watering the flowers and unloading them from the truck. |
The makeshift shack, barely big enough for a few people, is where Mr. Thanh rests at night while guarding his peach trees. This year, Mr. Thanh brought nearly 100 peach trees to sell in the market during Tet. According to Mr. Thanh, the busiest shopping period is from the 20th to the 29th of Tet.
Late at night, the peach trees were unloaded from the truck onto the sidewalk. Vo Ta Anh (born in 1982, residing in Thach Trung ward) and his wife covered the trees with sand and watered them. This year, Anh's family brought over 60 trees to sell during the Lunar New Year. “These peach trees, transported from Nam Dinh to Ha Tinh city, are between 5 and 20 years old. It was freezing cold and rainy at night, so we lit a fire to keep warm in this makeshift tent. The market seems quieter this year than in previous years, but I just hope that people will buy early this Tet so we can go home and rest early,” Anh said.
Staying up all night braving the cold rain, they light lamps to guard the Tet flower market.
Small traders set up tents and slept in makeshift shelters, guarding the Tet flower market all night long.
Small traders spend sleepless nights anxiously watching over flowers, worriedly awaiting customers as Tet approaches.
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