Today is the winter solstice. Many vendors selling sweet rice balls in Cho Lon area, where the Chinese community in Ho Chi Minh City is concentrated, smile when they see many customers coming to buy.
Buy sweet rice balls to eat on "winter solstice festival"
Recorded at Thu Do market, located on Phung Hung street (District 5) at 7:00 a.m. on December 21, it was crowded and bustling. Here, many Vietnamese of Chinese origin from the Cho Lon area came to shop, many were laughing and talking, communicating with each other in Cantonese and Teochew.
A cart of sweet rice balls at Thu Do market was crowded with customers this morning.
Both sellers and buyers said that today is the winter solstice, many people call it "winter solstice festival", an important day in Chinese culture. According to annual customs, on this day, families will gather together, reunite, eat sweet rice balls, banh to...
At Ms. Phung's sweet soup stall in a corner of the market, customers regularly come to buy. Although it is early in the morning, she said that she has almost sold out of sweet soup because most of her customers had ordered it the day before, and now she has delivered it all to her regular customers. Looking at the small table with a few bags of colorful sweet soup on it, she said that she only sells small quantities to "have some atmosphere".
"This year, I sold more than last year, 2 kg more than sweet soup. Normally, I don't sell this dish but only sell banh lot, but during the winter solstice or near Tet, I changed jobs because of the high demand. No matter what, the winter solstice cannot be without floating rice balls in the house according to Chinese beliefs, almost everyone who goes to the market brings home a portion of sweet soup," the owner confided.
Weekend morning, bustling Thu Do market
The sellers of sweet rice balls are in high demand.
This morning, many people changed jobs… selling sweet rice balls in Cho Lon, surrounded by customers.
This year, Ms. Phung sells 9,000 VND/tea ball. The owner is excited because compared to the unfavorable business situation at the end of the year, today is the "best" business day. The owner has been selling tea for more than 30 years, and has been selling at this market for more than ten years.
Next to Ms. Phung's sweet soup stall is Ms. Van's sweet soup stall, but it has fewer customers. Normally, Ms. Van sells salty dishes like banh beo and banh tam, but today she and her family members changed jobs and sold sweet soup.
"This year, there are very few buyers, so I still have a lot of sweet soup left. My whole family stayed up all night to make it in time to sell today, but if it doesn't sell out, we probably won't make it next year. I hope it all sells out," she confided.
Mrs. Phung's sweet soup stall almost sold out early.
Bustling Cho Lon
Also in the Capital Market this morning, a cart of sweet rice balls was doing quite well, at times it was packed with customers. The owner and 4-5 helpers prepared the sweet rice balls as quickly as possible so that customers wouldn't have to wait too long.
Here, the tea costs 10,000 VND/piece, with a variety of colors for customers to choose from. Many people also prefer the 10,000 VND bag of tea. The owner said that this winter solstice, the amount of tea prepared for sale is many times higher than usual. However, compared to this time last year, it has decreased by half because customer demand is not as high .
Mrs. Van usually sells three-color sweet soup, but today she switched to selling floating rice balls.
Mrs. Van usually sells salty dishes at Thu Do market, but today she also switched to selling sweet soup.
Not far from Thu Do Market, Mrs. Van's sweet soup stall is located at a corner of Tran Hung Dao Street (District 5) and is crowded with people. She sells each sweet soup for 7,000 VND. Many people order in advance because they are afraid of running out of stock early in the morning to get the goods. Some people pass by and see it so they stop by to buy.
The owner said that she usually sells three-color sweet soup, but today is different, the owner only cooks sweet rice balls to sell. Just like that, 3-4 people are busy preparing the dish as customers crowd the sweet soup stall this morning.
Buying sweet rice balls to eat on the "winter solstice" is a tradition of Chinese families.
Many tea stall owners said that business today is more expensive than usual due to high customer demand.
Taking her mother-in-law from District 6 to District 5 to buy sweet rice balls at Mrs. Van's shop, Ms. Ha said that because her husband's family is Chinese, she buys sweet rice balls every winter solstice. "It's fun to see this scene, nowadays sweet rice balls are selling well everywhere, wherever you go you see people selling sweet rice balls. Everyone is excited to celebrate the winter solstice," she shared.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vi-sao-sang-nay-nhieu-nguoi-doi-nghe-ban-che-troi-nuoc-o-cho-lon-khach-vay-kin-185241221083602573.htm
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