Services that attract customers after Tet

Lion dancing, bonsai care or lottery ticket selling... are quite popular services after the Dinh Dau Tet holiday due to high demand.

Lion dance

After Tet, lion dance troupes are often very successful as many people and families like to bring the team to dance for opening ceremonies or to wish each other a happy new year. Each small lion dance troupe usually consists of about 10-12 people (both adults and children). Larger lion dance troupes can have up to 18 or 20 people.

Lion dance team. Photo: KC

The price paid for the lion dance team is also varied. If the hirer is a large business, the lion dance team can be paid up to 10 or 15 million VND each time they perform an opening dance. "That's not including lucky money and bonuses if the lion dances beautifully and gives good blessings," said Mr. Nam, director of a plastic manufacturing company in Binh Tan district, when he invited the lion dance team to perform the opening dance on the 6th day of Tet.

In addition to professional lion dance troupes, many young amateurs also gather to form small lion dance groups to dance in each house to wish for a new year. Many homeowners or viewers who find it interesting often give a lot of money. "On lucky days, the group's income is about ten million VND, on bad days it's only a couple of million VND," said Tuan, a member of the traveling lion dance team.

Tree care and maintenance services

After Tet, the service of taking care of ornamental plants such as peach, apricot, kumquat... is booming again. Many families like to play with expensive ornamental plants worth several million to several tens, even several hundreds of million VND each Tet holiday but then do not know how to take care of them. Thanks to that, the service of taking care of ornamental plants has become a profession that brings in a considerable income for many people.

Apricot care service is popular during Tet.

Mr. Thang, the owner of a bonsai care service in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City, said that after Tet, if some families have space, they put bonsai trees at home and hire someone from his company to take care of them. Accordingly, depending on the type of bonsai and the homeowner's request, the price is calculated for each care visit.

In case the customer does not have a place to put the bonsai, his facility will take it to the garden to take care of it. The total care fee is also based on the value of each bonsai. "For example, if the customer's bonsai is worth 5 million VND, the care fee for the year is about 1.5 million VND. And if the value of the tree is higher, the care fee will multiply accordingly," he said, adding that in the past two or three days, his garden has received dozens of apricot and kumquat trees from customers.

Selling lottery tickets at the beginning of the year

Saigonese often have the habit of buying lucky numbers at the beginning of the spring. Therefore, lottery agents and street vendors are also more popular during these days.

The demand for buying lottery tickets for good luck at the beginning of the year increases in the days after Tet.

Mr. Hao, the owner of a lottery ticket agency on Au Co Street, District 11, said that in the first days of the Dinh Dau New Year, some people spent from a million to 5 or 7 million VND at a time to buy lucky numbers. "Sales during these days can increase by about 30% compared to normal days," he said, adding that buyers come from many groups, from workers to business owners.

Ms. Lan, a lottery ticket seller around Dam Sen area, also shared that on normal days, she only earns about one million VND in revenue (ie 100 lottery tickets and a profit of about 110,000 VND) all day, but in the first days of the Dinh Dau spring, she sells double or triple the amount. "If you work hard at night (with lottery tickets drawn the next day), you can earn about 400,000 VND per day," she said.

According to VNE