TPO – On a freezing cold day, peach and kumquat traders in Ha Tinh city light fires to keep warm and set up tents on the sidewalk to “watch” the peach and kumquat trees.
Traders work overnight to "watch" for Tet flowers. (Clip: Hoai Nam) |
At 9pm, in the cold and rainy weather, Mr. Nguyen Nhu Van (born in 1979, residing in Thach Trung ward) lit a fire and set up a shack on the sidewalk to “watch” for peach blossoms. This year, Mr. Van brought 800 peach trees from the North to sell during Tet in Ha Tinh city. With 5 years of experience in the ornamental plant trade, Mr. Van said that the Tet flower market here usually becomes bustling after December 15.
Each peach tree is carefully selected by Mr. Van, and a vehicle is hired to transport it to avoid breaking. The peach trees are placed on the sidewalk by Mr. Van, using ropes to cross on bamboo frames that have been set up in rows. Pointing to the peach trees, Mr. Van said that this year, he is not only selling branches but also the roots to serve the needs of each customer. The peach trees he sells are 3-5 years old, priced from 2-3 million VND. According to the traders, this year, due to the impact of storms in the North, the purchase price of peach flowers is higher than in previous years.
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Mr. Nguyen Nhu Van built a shack on the sidewalk to grow peaches to sell for Tet. |
“Since the day I brought the flowers home to sell, I have been working hard from day to night. I hope to sell all these peach blossoms by Tet. Selling flowers during Tet is also very unstable, some years I sell everything, some years I don’t sell much,” Mr. Van shared.
Ha Tinh is experiencing the coldest days of the year, with temperatures dropping sharply at night. In the bitter cold, Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street (Ha Tinh City) is filled with the colors of spring, peach blossoms and grapefruit branches. From small shacks built on the sidewalk. Behind the beauty of potted plants, small fires are lit to somewhat dispel the cold of the last days of winter.
“It’s cold at night so it’s quite hard. But in the group, we split up to stay up all night to watch over the peach trees and bonsai trees. In the shack, it’s cold at night, the temperature drops so much that every time we stay up all night, we can’t sleep,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh.
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People make fires to keep warm at night. |
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People make fires in shacks on the sidewalk. |
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The vendors are busy watering and unloading flowers from their trucks. |
The makeshift hut, just enough for a few people to stay, is where Mr. Thanh rests at night to watch over the peach blossoms. This year, Mr. Thanh brought nearly 100 peach trees to sell in the Tet market. According to Mr. Thanh, shopping is busiest from the 20th to the 29th of Tet.
Late at night, peach trees were taken from the car to the sidewalk, Vo Ta Anh (born in 1982, resident of Thach Trung ward) and his wife covered them with sand and watered the flowers. This year, Anh's family brought more than 60 trees to sell during the Lunar New Year. "The peach trees transported from Nam Dinh to Ha Tinh city are between 5 and 20 years old. The night is cold and rainy, so we light a fire to warm up in this makeshift tent. This year's market seems quieter than previous years, but I just hope that this year's Tet people buy early so we can go home early," Anh said.
Staying up all night in the cold rain, keeping the lights on to watch over Tet flowers
Small traders stretch tarps and sleep in tents to stay on duty all night to guard Tet flowers
Small traders stay up all night anxiously 'watching' flowers, anxiously waiting for customers to buy on the eve of Tet
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