Recorded at many traditional markets in Ho Chi Minh City such as Ba Chieu, Tan Dinh, Pham Van Hai, Nguyen Tri Phuong..., stalls have displayed full of votive paper, Tao Quan hats and shirts, incense and lamps, tea, flowers and complete offering trays for the day of Ong Cong Ong Tao. The buying and selling atmosphere became bustling from early morning, people took advantage of shopping from morning.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Be, a small trader selling votive paper near Ba Chieu market, said that this year purchasing power increased slightly compared to the same period. "Tao Quan hats and shirts, votive paper money are asked by customers a lot. Prices have not increased compared to last year, so people buy quite comfortably" - Ms. Be said.
Besides traditional markets, large supermarket systems are also no less vibrant when launching many packaged Ong Tao worship trays, targeting busy customers.
At Co.opMart, the set of products for worshiping the Kitchen Gods includes boiled chicken, steamed shrimp, carp-shaped gac sticky rice, sour cabbage, set of incense sticks, candles, set of offerings and votive paper money are being sold at a promotional price of 539,000 VND.
Lotte supermarket also participated in the "race" with a 9-course Kitchen Gods offering tray, priced at 569,000 VND after promotion, including whole roasted free-range chicken, braised meat with eggs, bamboo shoot soup with pig trotters, silk sausage, spring rolls, gac sticky rice...
Meanwhile, the GO! supermarket system provides Tet feasts with two price levels of 49,000 VND and 69,000 VND, including familiar dishes such as boiled chicken, fried spring rolls, gio tai, grilled pork belly, pickled onions - pickled scallions, bamboo shoot soup, bitter melon soup.
Ms. Le Thuy Trang (resident of Dien Hong ward) said that this year her family chose to buy a package offering tray at the supermarket. "At the end of the year, work is busy, buying a ready-made offering tray saves time and the price is also reasonable. The important thing is full rituals" - Ms. Trang shared.
At Binh Dien wholesale market, carp - an indispensable offering on the day of worshiping the Kitchen Gods - is selling strongly. According to records, orange-yellow carp, palm-sized, is the most popular type among people.
Specifically, small-sized carp are priced from 60,000-65,000 VND/kg, large-sized carp are 65,000-70,000 VND/kg; 2-fish carp are priced from 90,000-110,000 VND/kg. In addition, large catfish are also chosen by many people as a replacement with a price of about 35,000 VND/kg.
