The season for 'hunting' for peach blossoms for Tet.

(Baonghean) - About two weeks before the Lunar New Year is the peak season for "hunting" for mountain peach blossoms in Nghe An province. This is also the time when owners of highland peach orchards "make a fortune". During the peach blossom season of the Year of the Rooster (2017), many people even traveled to Laos to buy peach blossoms to supply the Tet market.

For nearly a decade, the last two weeks of the year have become the most lucrative days for Mr. Xong Ba Mua, in Buoc Mu village, Na Ngoi commune (Ky Son district). His year-end income can sometimes reach hundreds of millions of dong thanks to his approximately 3-hectare peach orchard at the foot of the majestic Phu Xai Lai Leng mountain.

The stilt house has become a "market" for peach blossoms.

In this region where the temperature never exceeds 25°C year-round, peach trees are perhaps the most resilient. That's why Mr. Mua's peach orchard, planted when he was young, still thrives even though he is now over fifty years old – the trees are half his age. In spring, the blossoms create a vibrant pink spectacle across the mountainside. In summer, the orchard is laden with fruit.

When ripe, the mountain peaches turn a rosy red, like the cheeks of a young girl in her prime. “I earn money from peaches twice a year. Once from selling the fruit, once from selling the flowers. There’s really no other crop where you can sell both the flowers and the fruit,” the old farmer in the border region of Na Ngoi chuckled. The period leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year) is when his peach orchard brings in the most money. Nearly a month before Tet, people from the lowlands drive up to inquire about buying peaches. Peach hunters from Muong Xen town, Hoa Binh province, and even Vinh city, nearly 250km away, come searching for them…

Forests bordering Vietnam and Laos, such as Pa Khom, Huoi Moi village, and Muong Long in Tri Le commune (Que Phong district), are home to many peach trees. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

Na Ngoi, Muong Long, Huoi Tu, Tay Son (Ky Son district), and Tri Le commune (Que Phong district) are the areas with the most peach blossom trees in the mountainous region of Nghe An. These trees are decades old, their trunks and branches covered in moss, and their buds are large, reddish-pink, and long-lasting. Tay Son commune in Ky Son district has peach trees hundreds of years old, planted at an altitude of nearly 1,500 meters above sea level, with each flower having up to six petals. Thanks to these characteristics, mountain peach blossoms are considered a fashionable item by city dwellers for Tet (Lunar New Year) celebrations and as gifts at the end of the year, when Tet and Spring arrive.

The most enthusiastic buyers of the Hmong peach orchards in the highlands are the traders. They take advantage of the days leading up to Tet (Lunar New Year) to earn extra income. In the cold, rainy weather with temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius, trucks still climb the slopes to Na Ngoi to find peach blossoms for Tet.

From the national highway to the villages where the digging takes place, it takes 40-50km by motorbike, with steep mountain passes and steep slopes. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

With nimble hands, tying peach blossom branches to the truck, Nguyen Van Tuan, a resident of Thanh Chuong district (Nghe An province) and a professional peach blossom trader for Tet (Lunar New Year) for nearly 5 years, shared: "Trading peach blossoms for Tet requires knowing how to 'seize opportunities' and also 'thoroughly researching the market' because it only happens for a short time before Tet." In previous years, he used to drive his truck to Mong villages to collect peach blossoms. Anticipating a shortage this year due to harsh weather, Mr. Tuan had to deposit money six months in advance to avoid losing his stock to others.

There are peach trees with trunks so large that it would take a person to hug them, but no one has been able to harvest them yet because the roads are so treacherous, said Vi, a peach tree hunter from Que Phong district. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

It can be said that, thanks to traders like Mr. Tuan, the Mong peach orchard owners in the highlands of Nghe An province have a fairly good income at the end of the year. Mr. Mua Ba Sua, from Huoi Giang village, Tay Son commune, Ky Son district, said: "Every year I earn between 5 and 7 million VND to prepare for Tet. Growing peach trees doesn't require much care, so these end-of-year earnings can be considered a 'blessing' bestowed by nature."

This year's peach blossom season seems more challenging for traders, even though branches of mountain peach blossoms have begun appearing along the roads of Tri Le commune (Que Phong district), a border area. Local traders say that these peach blossoms mainly originate from Laos. Mr. Tran Van Vinh, residing in Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau district, said that in his first time trading peach blossoms for Tet (Lunar New Year), he and his group of friends had to travel all the way to Laos to buy them. According to estimates from the peach blossom trading groups, each trip to Hua Phan to buy peach blossoms and bring them back for resale takes 3-4 days. Thus, during the two weeks of the Tet peach blossom season, each group can make 4-5 trips to buy "imported" peach blossoms.

A merchant digging in the mountains.

This peach blossom season, the stilt house of Mr. Lo Van Xuan in Na Nieng village, Tri Le commune (Que Phong district) has become a display area for peach blossoms. The branches, recently transported, are waiting for buyers to take them downstream. Mr. Xuan says that the Mong villages in the Muong Quan region of Hua Phan province (Laos), shrouded in clouds year-round, have preserved peach orchards hundreds of years old. Buyers from Vietnam usually import peach blossoms through unofficial channels via the Tri Le border gate.

Before being loaded onto trucks for transport to Vinh City and other areas, some of the peach trees are displayed for sale along the national highway. Prices vary widely depending on the tree, ranging from 300,000 VND to tens of millions of VND. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

To obtain peach blossom branches originating from Laos, each person has to travel by motorbike along very complex mountain passes, so they can't carry much. Mr. Tran Van Vinh shared: "Each trip, one person can only transport 5-6 branches and has to spend 3-4 million Vietnamese dong. After deducting expenses, each person makes a profit of 2-3 million dong. That's the reward of a very arduous journey, even facing many dangers."

According to locals, the trees used for digging are usually found in high-altitude areas above 1000m above sea level. The dark-colored trunks are often covered with moss or parasitic plants, giving them a musty appearance. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

Harsh weather conditions caused many peach trees in the mountainous region of Nghe An to die off last year, resulting in a shortage of peach blossoms for Tet (Lunar New Year), forcing many people to buy them from Laos. The intense demand from collectors and traders over a long period has also led to the depletion of peach blossom resources in the mountainous areas of Nghe An.

For nearly a month now, peach blossoms have been blooming profusely throughout the Muong Long valley. Mr. Va No Vu, Chairman of the People's Committee of Muong Long commune, looked pensive: "Early blooming peach blossoms are not good news." The chairman worried. At this rate, no household will have any peach blossoms left to sell by Tet (Lunar New Year). They'll just have to wait until the fruit season!

Huu Vi - Ho Phuong