Buying an entire apartment building and Old Trafford stadium for the dead on the occasion of the 15th day of the 7th lunar month

Many new and strange items made of paper such as apartment buildings, Old Trafford stadium, English Premier League uniforms or golf clubs... for the dead appeared in the "capital" of paper votive offerings Song Ho, Thuan Thanh ( Bac Ninh ) to welcome the 15th day of the 7th lunar month.

On the days leading up to the 15th day of the 7th lunar month, people in Song Ho village (Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh), the "capital" of votive paper production in the north, are busy sending offerings to provinces and cities.

This year, there are many items that make customers curious. One of the most prominent is a large apartment building that takes up a room in the house.

At Duc Quang’s shop, a strange product for football fans is the English Premier League jersey (Manchester United FC jersey). The jersey, which costs 50,000 VND, is made to the exact size that if skillfully made, one can even fit inside.

Not only the competition uniforms, the world famous Old Trafford stadium in the UK is also made of cardboard with the same design as the real version.

Another unique product is a life-sized water pump with moving wheels, gauges... that was custom-made by a customer at Quang's store as an offering to a relative who used to work in the electrical and plumbing repair business.

Iron and steel cutting machines, the latest phone accessories... are all meticulously handcrafted. "As in the mortal world, so in the afterlife" is the view of many customers when ordering Song Ho villagers to produce votive offerings for Vu Lan season.

The whole set of office furniture with computer is half the size of the real thing, selling price is 800,000 VND.

Quang confidently held the 13-club set of 1:1 golf clubs to check the quality. While the real thing costs several hundred million VND, this paper item was painstakingly completed by craftsmen in a week and also costs several million VND.

Quang said he does not encourage people to burn too much votive paper, but this is a long-standing cultural practice and it is very difficult to completely eliminate it. In the photo is a massage chair with electronic models on both sides of the armrests.

A welding machine is completed after 3 days of ordering. Just need to send a photo, Quang can remake it exactly and ensure the product quality, can be transported and handled comfortably.

While paper cars imitating Mercedes and Ferrari were already popular in previous years, customers are now ordering Japanese-style 7-9 seat family cars. In the photo is a paper car imitating the Toyota Alphard, with a rolling price of nearly 5 billion VND for the hybrid version.

For more than a month now, the capital of votive offerings has been bustling with trucks carrying offerings to the provinces. Mr. Vu Xuan Quynh (driver) said that today alone he made about 3-4 trips transporting offerings to Quang Ninh, Hanoi , Hung Yen... "This year's sales have decreased quite a bit compared to previous years, in my opinion, mainly because people have limited the burning of offerings. Sales during the year are slow and focused on major holidays such as Tet, the 15th day of the first lunar month, and the 15th day of the seventh lunar month," Mr. Quynh said.