(HBO) – Colourful and thrilling are typical features of a Lunar New Year (Tet) market of people in mountainous areas. They come to the market not only to shop and trade, but also to meet friends for sipping wine together. joining people going to the market on Tuesday morning of the last week of the lunar year, we came to Lung Van Tet market in Tan Lac district.
Lung Van market opens on every Tuesday,
attracting residents in Lung Van commune and surrounding areas to visit and
trade.
Right from early morning, dozens of vans
carrying Tet goods gathered near the People’s Committee headquarters of Lung
Van, unloading and arranging their goods for sale. Locals also brought various
specialties of the locality. In a busy atmosphere of the market, everyone
worked hard to provide commodities to locals.

Lung Van market (Tan Lac) is crowded by people
shopping for Tet
Clothes at the market had reasonable prices
at about 100,000 VND a suit for children
Apart from clothes area, a space for peach
blossom and kumquat trees was among the most attractive ones. Everyone chose
trees with a lot of flowers, fruits and buds in a hope of bringing luck to
their house in the New Year. Confectionaries, wine and beer, dry preserved
fruits with diverse types, which are popular in Tet, also drew many people.
Tran Thi To from Lam Luu street of Phu
Cuong commune, said "compared to previous years, demand in the market was
higher. My family has sold out almost commodities such as rice, confectionaries
and beers. The prices of the goods rise slightly compared to previous years,
including rice at 500,000 per kilo.”
In addition to popular commodities, Lung
Van had special goods such as Nam Son mandarins, chayote vegetables, Quyet
Chien mushrooms, cats’ ear mushroom, "dong” (phrynium) leaves, bamboo string
and bean.
At the same time, brocade products were
also popular, with many beautiful patterns showing the unique culture of Muong
people.
Especially, many locals sold their
hand-made products such as bamboo baskets, knife covers.
In recent years, people often come to Lung
Van market not only for shopping. Many people from nearby localities go to the
market for experiencing and exploring the customs and cultural identities of
local ethnic minority groups.
Ha Van Dinh from Lung Cao commune, Ba Thuoc
district of neighbouring Thanh Hoa province said: "I take my family to this
market every year at the year-end to shop and enjoy foods. It is very fancy to
be in the market, as people here are very friendly and lovely. Along with some
necessities for Tet, my family loves Nam Son mandarins for the fruit’s special
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