(VOVworld) – Craft villages in the central province of Thua Thien Hue and garden houses in the southern province of Binh Phuoc are busy at the moment preparing for the upcoming Tet. VOV reports:

Thanh Tien village, Phu Mau commune, Thua Thien Hue province, has been making paper flowers for 300 years. Its products sell particularly well before Tet to be placed on ancestral altars and for religious rituals at pagodas and temples. Village chief Nguyen Hoa said each local household produces 5,000 paper flowers for Tet, earning approximately 2,500 USD: “Apart from farming, people make paper flowers to earn extra income. Although the revenue from flower making is not high, we keep doing it to maintain and honor our traditional craft.”

People in Sinh village in Phu Mau commune are also busy making folk paintings for Tet. These local artifacts, which have been in existence for 500 years, are used for rituals during Tet and the 1^st and 15^th days of every lunar month. Votive paintings are printed with wooden moulds and colored. Artisan Ky Huu Phuoc, who has been in the trade for 60 years, said villagers have also been involved in making decorative paintings and wall calendars for tourists: “Sinh paintings are used mainly for rituals, which will then be burned. The demand for Sinh paintings during Tet is very high. Our products sell well throughout the central region.”

Kim Long ginger jams are made from a secret recipe. Gingers grown in Hue are small but have a strong fragrance. Truong Dinh Thu, who has been making ginger jams for 50 years, said all the ginger jam making facilities in Kim Long are busy at this time of the year: “Kim Long ginger jams have a unique flavor. As other places also produce ginger jams, we have had to reduce our production. My family made 3-4 tonnes last year but this year we will make less. We can’t just give up our craft although revenues from it are not considerable.”

Luu Chi Cuong and his wife of Tan Phu ward, Binh Phuoc province, have been trimming and shaping more than 250 kumquat trees for Tet. Cuong said the trees grow well because of favorable weather by the end of the year. The trees have born fruits, some of which have ripened. Cuong said it takes them nearly 5 years to grow 1-meter high kumquat trees: “If the price is as high as last year we will make a fortune. A one-meter high kumquat tree was sold at 150 USD last year. My trees look good this year but I don’t know about the market demand.”

The family of Do Van Tuyen of Son Giang ward, Binh Phuoc province, chose to grow sunflowers for Tet this year. Their 500 sunflowers have developed buds and promise to produce great benefits. Tuyen said: “We began to grow sunflowers 3 months ago so that they should bear buds 25 days before Tet. If we want the buds to come out later, we water a lot. Growing this kind of flower depends largely on the weather.”
Craft villages in Thua Thien Hue and Binh Phuoc and others throughout Vietnam are preparing to make Tet more unique and colorful.