Nghe An: Bustling market for 'dispelling bad luck and bringing good luck' plants on Tet holiday

Since the beginning of December, many people have gone to Con Cuong and Tuong Duong districts to buy bamboo. Bamboo is transported downstream and sold to people who set up Tet poles. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Having been in the business of making bamboo poles for Tet for 3 years now, before the 15th day of the 12th lunar month, Mr. Vo Vinh went up to Con Cuong and Tuong Duong districts to buy bamboo and bamboo poles to bring down to sell to people to set up poles to celebrate Tet.

“Nowadays, in the lowland districts, there is almost no bamboo left, only in Con Cuong and Tuong Duong districts, there is still a lot. To serve the market, at the beginning of December, we go to survey, select bamboo and make deposits, and after the full moon of December, we transport bamboo to the lowlands. Bamboo for making poles must be straight, cut close to the base, and all the thorns removed, but the top leaves must be kept, so transportation is quite difficult,” said Vinh.

Bamboo poles are sold quite widely, next to peach branches and kumquat pots for Tet. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Importing 4,000 bamboo trees to make Tet poles, Mr. Le Viet Phuc in Nghi Long commune (Nghi Loc) dumped the goods at 5 points of sale. According to Mr. Huy, this year, the price of bamboo to make poles has decreased compared to previous years, accordingly, each bamboo tree costs from 120,000 - 150,000 VND/tree, 30,000 - 50,000 VND/tree cheaper than last year. Up to now, the amount of poles has been consumed about 40%.

“After the 23rd of December, people rush to buy bamboo to erect the pole. In the 5 years of selling bamboo to make poles, there has never been a year when the sales have been slow. By the 27th of Tet, everything is sold out. This year, purchasing power has increased slightly compared to previous years,” said Mr. Phuc.

Bamboo prices for poles this year have slightly decreased compared to previous years. Photo: Thanh Phuc

In addition to selling bamboo poles, Mr. Phuc also provides services to set up and decorate poles according to customers' requests. Depending on the height of the pole, accompanying decorations such as: LED lights, lanterns, national flags... plus installation costs, each complete pole costs from 800,000 to 1.3 million VND. "Since the full moon of December until now, I have set up about 50 poles for families and residential groups. Although poles made of iron and steel are sturdy and durable, bamboo poles with traditional meanings are more popular."

From the movement of erecting poles by the people, recently, the trade of bamboo and erecting poles has helped many small traders earn extra income during Tet. At this time, at the intersections of Vinh city as well as the centers of towns and villages in the districts, besides kumquat, peach, and Tet flowers, many vacant lots are used as places to display bamboo for Tet poles.

After the full moon of December, in many localities in the province, people were busy buying bamboo and setting up poles to welcome Tet. Photo: Thanh Phuc

On average, after deducting expenses, each bamboo pole sold earns a profit of about 40,000 - 50,000 VND. Some large businesses earn hundreds of millions of VND each Tet.

“Bamboo is now rare, finding a beautiful bamboo tree is even harder, and cutting and transporting it is also hard work, so I have to buy bamboo to set up the flagpole. Normally, the price of bamboo is only 20,000 - 30,000 VND/tree at most, but bamboo to make a Tet flagpole costs 5-7 times more. Peach and kumquat trees can be bought later, so I just buy the flagpole to set up the atmosphere first,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Do in Dai Dong commune (Thanh Chuong), a flagpole buyer.

Tree decorations such as LED lights, flashing lights, and lanterns are also selling well. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Bamboo poles are in high demand, so decorations such as national flags, lanterns, and flashing lights are also in high demand. On this occasion, grocery stores and electrical stores sell flashing lights and decorative LED lights and are bustling with customers.