Local lanterns light up markets

With only three weeks to go before the Mid-Autumn Festival, markets are full of people buying mooncakes and colourful lanterns made by local artisans and manufacturers.
With only three weeks to go before the Mid-Autumn Festival, markets arefull of people buying mooncakes and colourful lanterns made by localartisans and manufacturers.

According to sales staff in Ho ChiMinh City markets, locally made lanterns have been dominating themarket, making up 70 percent.

Nguyen Dang Sy, an artisan at PhuBinh lantern craft village in District 11, said his family has madethousands of lanterns for the market this year, three times more thanthe previous year.

The toys can be bought at stores and mobilestalls on streets like Hai Thuong Lan Ong, Luong Nhu Hoc and Nguyen Anin District 5, and Le Quang Sung in District 6, and at supermarkets inthe city.

They offer a wide range of products, includingtraditional lanterns made of paper or glazed paper, and electricallypowered items made of plastic with colourful bulbs inside that emitmusic.

They have a variety of shapes, such as stars, rabbits, butterflies and cartoon characters.

Thisyear, there are new models reflecting patriotism, with images ofVietnamese fishermen and their ships, soldiers protecting the country,including its sea and islands.

Bui Dinh Phung of Phu Binh villagesaid many artisans chose to make lanterns with images of maps ofislands, ships and helicopters because children had learned more aboutthe Hoang Sa and Truong Sa islands.

The District 8-based Ky ThuatMoi Company has produced electric lanterns featuring Vietnamesemythical heroes like Saint Giong, a young man who chased invaders out ofthe country and took off into the sky with his horse, and the Trungsisters, who led insurgents to fight northern aggressors 2,000 yearsago.

Ta Minh Chau, deputy director of the company, told Sai GonGiai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon ) newspaper said the company had producedmore than 700,000 lanterns and distributed them across the country.

HoQuoc Nguyen, public relations manager of Big C Vietnam, said to Sai GonGiai Phong newspaper that supermarkets had sold only local lanterns,which proved to be popular.

"It is a chance for local enterprises to produce and introduce safe products at reasonable prices," he said.-VNA

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