Along National Highway 6 near Tet, the section passing through Thuan Chau, Mai Son, Yen Chau, Moc Chau and Van Ho, peach blossom selling points are appearing more and more.
Rows of large and small peach branches lined up on both sides of the road. The light pink color stands out in the Northwest mountains and forests, creating a brilliant spring picture.
But behind that color are hard days. Many peach blossom sellers accept the scene of "sky and earth", building temporary shacks clinging to the national highway to wait for customers.
At the sales points, simple tarpaulin shacks set up close to the roadside have become a familiar image every Tet season. Inside, there are only mats, thin blankets, mini gas stoves and a few minimal household items.
During the day, they stand to look after the goods, arrange peach blossoms, and invite customers to visit. At night, the lights of flashlights and phone lights flicker between the faded pink peach branches. Sellers take turns guarding the goods, both to prevent thieves and to be ready to sell to long-distance customers.
Mr. Mua A Trang (Hua Tat village, Van Ho commune) is one of the earliest people to build shacks. From December 15th of the lunar calendar, he brought hundreds of peach branches down to sell along National Highway 6 and stayed by the roadside.
During the day, there are individual customers visiting to see. At night, long-distance vehicles still stop to ask to buy. I have to stay to look after the peach blossoms and sell them to customers," Mr. Trang said.
Since opening for sale, Mr. Trang has consumed more than 100 peach branches, priced from a few hundred thousand to 2-3 million VND per branch. Customers buy scattered, not as crowded as every year, so he is almost on duty day and night.
Not far away, at the selling point of Chieng Di village (Van Ho commune), Mr. Giang A Canh also clings to his temporary shack. Besides the peaches already on sale, he continuously imports more peaches from highland villages to supplement.
Customers are sometimes crowded and sometimes sparse. I both sell and import more peach blossoms, so I have to stay to look after the goods all day and night. I'm tired but try to earn extra income near Tet," Mr. Canh shared.
Not only local people, many customers from other places also take the opportunity to buy local peach blossoms when passing National Highway 6. Mr. Pham Manh Ha (Cau Giay district, Hanoi) said: "Every year when carrying Tet goods here, when I come back, I also buy local peach blossoms to bring home for Tet display. Peach blossoms here are beautiful in shape and lasting in flowers. This year's price is also reasonable.
Real-world records show that peach blossom selling points are mainly concentrated in easy-to-stop locations such as Son La Pass intersection (Chieng An ward), Co Noi intersection (Mai Son commune), Ta Lang intersection (Chieng Hac commune), Hua Tat and Chieng Di village areas (Van Ho commune).
Here, many households set up temporary shacks right next to the road to conveniently display and look after peach blossoms until close to Tet.
Mr. Nguyen Hong Thanh - Chairman of Van Ho Commune People's Committee - said that people selling peach blossoms along National Highway 6 has been maintained for many years.
Currently, there are about 30-40 people participating in selling peaches in the area. Many people are far from the national highway, so they build temporary shacks to sell until Tet. The commune has propagated to people to ensure safety, and at the same time assigned the commune police and village security forces to strengthen patrols and maintain security and order in the area," Mr. Thanh said.
According to the seller, this year's native peach blossoms and ornamental peach blossoms are of quite good quality. Beautiful branches, many buds, many buds. However, the number of customers buying is less than every year.
Temporary shacks next to hundreds of peach branches still light up every night. There, they quietly guard the colors of spring with the hope of a more fulfilling Tet.
