The last market day of the lunar year has long been a special occasion in the countryside. This is the time farmers to go to the market to sell what they have and buy what they need for the New Year Festival. It seems that the New Year Festival starts from the marketplace and then spreads to every family.
The atmosphere is boisterous and jubilant at Lu Market, Le Loi commune, Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh province on the last market day of the year. People gather in the market before the break of dawn. It seems that they bring the best things they have to this special market day. After selling their products, they start to buy things for their New Year Festival.
In countryside markets, sellers spread a sheet on the ground and place their products on it. Products are very copious, e.g. banana, vegetables, betel leafs, fruits, chickens and ducks.
Like other countryside markets, Lu Market sells everything local people have. Perhaps, the best selling item here is coriander.
"We buy this herb to prepare the bathwater for my family. The fragrance makes us feel very joyful. People bathing with this are believed to have good luck in the New Year. It is customary in my homeland,” said Ha, a buyer.
In another corner of the market you will find fresh flowers, branches of peach, kumquat, pork, fish pots, chickens and ducks, displayed on straw mats. Other aisles sell clothing, since new clothes for children are a popular gift for the New Year.
The last market day in the countryside is a custom deeply ingrained in our mind and a cultural quintessence of the nation.
T.Huyen
Vietnamese
