The market for paintings and banners celebrating Longevity in early Spring is bustling.

The market for longevity paintings and banners is quite diverse with different designs, sizes, and materials. Prices range from 100,000 VND to tens of millions of VND. Photo: Thanh Phuc

At the beginning of the year, many localities in the province and families hold longevity celebrations for the elderly, those who have reached the age of 10 (70 years old and older). Therefore, the items of longevity paintings and banners have also become bustling.

In Dung Town (Thanh Chuong), there are about 10 places selling this item with the quantity up to thousands of letters, but as of today, the kiosks have "run out of stock". Since the afternoon of the third day of Tet, the kiosks selling the Longevity calligraphy have been bustling with buyers. There are places where customers have to wait in line to write their signatures, there are people who are worried about the crowding at this time so they have made a deposit to buy the goods and wrote the letters earlier today and will come to pick them up today to celebrate.

Starting from the 11th lunar month, businesses have imported paintings and banners to celebrate longevity from the northern provinces for processing and sale. However, the best selling time starts from the 3rd day of Tet to the day of lowering the flagpole (7th day of Tet) and lasts until the 15th day of the first lunar month. This year, the number of elderly people in the district has reached the age of majority, so the goods have sold very well. 1,000 paintings and banners to celebrate longevity have been imported, but only about 100 are left. Buyers are rushing, so even though they hired 3 people to write, cut and paste the inscriptions, they still cannot get them in time for customers to pick up.

Mr. Tran Luong, owner of a kiosk selling the word Tho in block 10, Dung town (Thanh Chuong)

Not only do the children in the family order longevity scrolls and paintings for their parents and grandparents, but clans, localities, and groups of friends also choose paintings and paintings as longevity gifts for the elderly. Mr. Nguyen Huu Quy, Da Son commune, Do Luong said: "This year, there are 10 elderly people in the clan. In addition to monetary gifts, the clan will spend money to buy each of them a longevity painting with the meaning of wishing them a happy life, a long life, and good fortune."

Longevity paintings are very popular in early spring. Photo: Thanh Phuc

At retail points, this item is equally bustling. Mr. Nguyen Trung Hai (Tao Son commune, Anh Son) said: "Before Tet, after consulting the list of elderly people in the commune and neighboring communes who have reached old age, I calculated to get the appropriate quantity of goods so as not to have any backlog. This year, the store imported 200 longevity paintings of all kinds. By the 3rd day of Tet, more than 2/3 of the goods had been sold. By around the 6th day (a good day for families to hold the ceremony to reduce the number of old people), the goods will definitely be sold out."

Particularly, the distributors of paintings and banners for longevity celebrations in Vinh have been sold out since the 29th of Tet. Meanwhile, retail outlets along Ho Tung Mau, Phan Dinh Phung, and Tran Hung Dao streets (Vinh City) are bustling with buyers and sellers these days.

Currently on the market, longevity paintings and banners are quite diverse in size, design and material with prices ranging from 100,000 VND to several million VND, even custom-ordered paintings with many details and elaborate decorations cost up to tens of millions of VND.

This year, in addition to bronze, mother-of-pearl, mirror, and lacquer paintings, the most popular type is the elaborately and meticulously carved longevity painting made of rosewood decorated with LED lights, miniature rockery, and incense burner, priced from 2,500,000 VND - 5,000,000 VND/painting (depending on size).

Longevity paintings are a popular gift choice for the elderly. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Compared to previous years, the price of Longevity paintings and banners has not increased, however, the sales volume is very high. The owner of an agent specializing in distributing this item in the Vinh area said: "With the concept of giving many Longevity envelopes to the elderly, no one knows, but giving a Longevity painting with the name of the person giving the gift and the giver along with the wishes will be much more meaningful. Currently, there are two trends, one is to choose simple Longevity paintings and banners called "having ceremony", the second is to order rare Longevity paintings and banners made of black bronze or clove wood to show "class", the relationship between the giver and the recipient. Every Tet, hundreds of thousands of Longevity paintings and banners are consumed. Therefore, the number of people choosing Longevity paintings and banners as gifts is increasing, the market for this item is becoming more and more vibrant, especially from the 3rd to the 6th of Tet when there are many buyers".

The business season for stores selling this item only lasts about 15 days, from the first day of Tet to the full moon of the first lunar month, peaking from the third to the sixth day of Tet, but it brings in a good income and rarely has unsold goods.