Every year, when Lunar New Year is going to come shortly, the stretch of street in front of Thai Nguyen Junior High School (Nha Trang City) becomes stunning thanks to the red color of numerous lanterns. Lovingly called "lantern street" by the locals and tourists, this stretch of road is also a favorite place to take souvenir photos of many people, especially the young ones.
Every year, when Lunar New Year is going to come shortly, the stretch of street in front of Thai Nguyen Junior High School (Nha Trang City) becomes stunning thanks to the red color of numerous lanterns. Lovingly called “lantern street” by the locals and tourists, this stretch of road is also a favorite place to take souvenir photos of many people, especially the young ones.
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| Mother and daughter posing with red lanterns. |
The road became a place selling red lanterns around 20 years ago. Since then, in the final days of lunar year, this street is often lightened by the beautiful red of the lanterns. There are now over 10 consecutive stalls selling red lanterns on this street, covering hundreds of meters.
According to Nguyen Thi Thuy, a red lantern seller on this street, the number of goods sold on the “lantern street” is much more compared to the past. It requires around more than VND200 million to open a stall here. Beside red lantern, there are some other Tet items sold at these stalls, including lucky money envelope, artificial flower and Tet decorations. This year, the unfavorable weather has caused the trading many difficulties and the consumption has relatively dipped, Thuy added.
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| Striking red in “lantern street” in Nha Trang. |
Prior to Lunar New Year, many locals and tourists come to “lantern street” to capture memorable moments in the beach city. The photos of the whole family, mother and children or young women dressing ao dai posing with plenty of red lanterns have been widely spread via social network. Some youths even bring rattan bag or palm-leaf conical hat, giving people a feeling of old days.
The “lantern street” has become a “cultural rendezvous” in Nha Trang City, helping to add the traditional cultural feature to the Tet atmosphere in the city. “My family often goes to this place to buy decorations for Tet and take souvenir photographs. I want my children to know a traditional cultural characteristic,” said Nguyen Minh Tung (Phuoc Tien Ward, Nha Trang).
The people who visit and pose with red lanterns and New Year decorations pay the stalls’ owners VND50 thousand per person because of the interference they may cause to the trading. Most of them pay the fee uncomplainingly. Some people who are interested in photography also come to this street to capture beautiful moments of people.
It can be said that the “lantern street” in front of Thai Nguyen Junior High School together with Thai Nguyen-Le Thanh Ton flower street becomes a cultural beauty in Nha Trang.
Xuan Thanh
Translated by H.N
