Peach blossom hunting season

(Baonghean) - About two weeks before Tet is the season for mountain peach "hunting" of Nghe An people. This is also the time when peach garden owners in the highlands "make a lot of money". During the Dinh Dau Tet peach season (2017), many people even traveled to Laos to buy peaches to supply the Tet market.

For nearly ten years now, the last two weeks of the year have been the days when Mr. Xong Ba Mua, in Buoc Mu village, Na Ngoi commune (Ky Son), earns the most money. The year-end income can reach hundreds of millions of dong thanks to his 3-hectare peach garden at the foot of the majestic Phu Xai Lai Leng mountain.

The stilt house became a peach "market".

In this land where the temperature does not exceed 250C all year round, peach trees are probably the most resilient trees. That is why Mr. Mua planted his peach garden when he was young. Now he is over fifty, the age of the trees is half the age of a human, but the peach trees still grow very strongly. Spring comes, the flowers bloom bright pink in a corner of the mountain. Summer comes, the garden is full of fruit.

When ripe, the mountain peaches turn red like the cheeks of a young girl. “Every year, I collect money from peaches twice. Once for the fruit, once for the flowers. There is no other crop that can sell both flowers and fruit,” the old farmer from the border area, Na Ngoi, smiled. The time before Tet is when his peach garden makes the most money. Nearly a month before Tet, people from the lowlands drive up to ask to buy peaches. People hunting for mountain peaches in Muong Xen town, Hoa Binh, and even Vinh city, nearly 250km away, come to find them…

Forests along the Vietnam-Laos border such as Pa Khom, Huoi Moi village, Muong Long of Tri Le commune (Que Phong) are places with many peach trees. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

Na Ngoi, Muong Long, Huoi Tu, Tay Son (Ky Son district), Tri Le commune (Que Phong) are the areas with the most peach trees in the mountainous region of Nghe An. The peach trees are several decades old, their trunks and branches are covered with moss, their peach buds are large, pink and long-lasting. Tay Son commune, Ky Son district has peach trees hundreds of years old, planted at an altitude of nearly 1,500m above sea level, each flower has up to 6 petals. Thanks to these characteristics, mountain peaches are considered by urban people as a trendy item to play Tet and as gifts at the end of the year, when Tet comes, Spring returns.

The most enthusiastic people about the peach gardens of the Mong people in the highlands are the traders. They take advantage of these days before Tet to earn extra income. In the cold, rainy weather below 10 degrees, trucks still climb the slopes to Na Ngoi to find peach trees for Tet.

From the national highway to the villages where there are peach trees, it takes 40-50km by motorbike to stop, the pass is steep and steep. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

With his hands deftly tying peach branches to the truck bed, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan, a resident of Thanh Chuong district (Nghe An), a professional peach trader for nearly 5 years, shared: Selling peaches for Tet requires knowing how to "seize the opportunity" and also "carefully research the market" because it only takes place for a short time before Tet. In previous years, he often drove a truck to Mong villages to collect peaches. Predicting that this year there would be a shortage of goods due to harsh weather, Mr. Tuan had to deposit money half a year in advance to avoid having his goods taken by others.

There are peach trees with diameters as big as a person's hug, but no one has been able to collect them because the roads are dangerous, said Mr. Vi, a peach hunter in Que Phong district. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

It can be said that thanks to traders like Mr. Tuan, the Mong peach garden owners in the highlands of Nghe An have a good source of income at the end of the year. Mr. Mua Ba Sua, Huoi Giang village, Tay Son commune, Ky Son district, said: Every year, he earns an income of 5-7 million VND to buy Tet. Growing peach trees does not require much care, so the year-end income can be called a "blessing" given by nature.

This year's peach season seems to be more difficult for traders, although mountain peach branches have begun to appear on the roads of Tri Le border commune (Que Phong). Local traders said that the origin of these peach branches is mainly from Laos. Mr. Tran Van Vinh, resident of Chau Tien commune, Quy Chau district, said that for the first time entering the peach trading business for Tet, he and his group of friends had to go all the way to Laos to buy peaches. According to the estimates of the peach trading groups, each trip to Hua Phan to buy peaches for resale also takes 3-4 days. Thus, during the 2-week period of the peach season, each group can make 4-5 trips to "foreign" peaches.

A mountain peach merchant.

This peach season, the stilt house of Mr. Lo Van Xuan, in Na Nieng village, Tri Le commune (Que Phong) has become a place to display peaches. The peach branches that have just been transported are waiting for buyers to take them downstream. Mr. Xuan said that the Mong villages in the Muong Quan area of ​​Hua Phan province (Laos) are covered in clouds all year round and are preserving hundreds of years old peach gardens. People who buy peaches from Vietnam often import them through the Tri Le border gate.

Before being loaded onto trucks to be transported to Vinh City and the lowlands, some of the goods will be displayed for sale along the national highway in the area. Prices vary widely depending on each peach tree, ranging from 300,000 VND to tens of millions of VND. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

To get peach branches from Laos, each person must travel by motorbike on steep mountain passes with very complicated terrain, so they cannot carry much. Mr. Tran Van Vinh shared: Each trip, a person can only transport 5-6 branches and must spend 3-4 million VND. When buying, after deducting expenses, each person still has a profit of 2-3 million VND. That is the result of a very arduous trip, even facing many dangers.

According to locals, stone digging is usually done in highland areas over 1000m above sea level. Dark tree trunks often have moss or parasitic plants growing on them, giving them a moldy appearance. Photo: Nguyen Hung Cuong.

Harsh weather has caused many peach trees in the mountainous region of Nghe An to die in the past year, causing a shortage of peach trees for Tet, so many people have had to go to Laos to buy them. The long-term hunting by players and traders has also caused the peach resources in the mountainous region of Nghe An to gradually dry up.

For nearly a month now, peach blossoms have been blooming all over Muong Long valley. Mr. Va No Vu - Chairman of Muong Long Commune People's Committee seemed pensive: "Peach blossoming early is not good news." The commune chairman was worried. At this rate, when Tet comes, no house will have peach blossoms to sell. We'll have to wait until the fruit season!

Huu Vi - Ho Phuong