Rushing to produce houses, cars, iPhones... for the "underworld" in time for the 15th day of the 7th lunar month

Song Ho village (Thuan Thanh district, Bac Ninh province) is famous as one of the largest "capitals" of votive paper in the North. Every full moon of the 7th lunar month, this place is bustling with production, trading, and transportation of goods all day long.

Although people have changed their old habits and limited the burning of votive paper, making the atmosphere in the village quieter than every year, this is still the busiest season of the year.

Joss paper is produced by Song Ho people all year round, but the 7th and 8th lunar months are the peak consumption times. This year, many products with full sizes, colors, and types were produced. Many types are elaborately made to resemble miniature real versions such as luxury cars, villas, SH motorbikes, electric bicycles, iPhone 14 - 15 phones...

Quyen Phuong's family representative said that since the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy has been difficult, and the market for votive paper has become more difficult. "Every year, at this time, everyone is busy producing, but in the past few years, the atmosphere has become much more gloomy. During the "golden age", my workshop had to hire more than 10 workers to work, now there are only 3 or 4 people left," she said.

Similarly, Bao Hang's family also had to reduce the number of workers, but everyone had to work quickly to meet the deadline of the 15th day of the 7th lunar month.

"Most of the votive offerings for the 15th day of the 7th lunar month are prepared by us 2 months in advance to be on time," said the owner of this store.

Items such as dragon boats, goddess figures, horses, elephants used for temples, pagodas, and spirit mediums... are consumed more strongly than regular personal items.

"We produce the effigies of the queen, mandarins, horses, elephants, and dragon boats all year round, not just on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month. The best selling time is in the 8th and 9th lunar months because that's when many people go to temples and pagodas and perform spirit mediumship," said one person.

Mr. Nguyen The Hung's family, who has been making votive paper for more than 30 years, said: "In general, the market is increasingly gloomy. Here, each household produces a different type of paper, so some households sell well, while others are unsold."

"My family specializes in making votive dragon boats, making them all year round. On average, my family sells more than 10 boats a day at a price of 65,000 VND each," said Mr. Hung.

People of Song Ho commune are busy producing and supplying the market on the 15th day of the 7th lunar month.

Popular products such as clothes and shoes cost only 10,000 - 30,000 VND/set.

More luxurious villas cost from several tens to several hundred thousand dong.

All kinds of paper cars, motorbikes, bicycles, electric bicycles are simulated exactly like real products in real life.

Iphone 15, Ipad, smart watches, wireless headphones... are also produced for "the dead".

Makeup sets of many famous brands are turned into votive paper.

Gold jewelry, watches and glasses are among the popular items.

People are busy transporting votive paper to stores for traders to buy.

Trucks filled with votive offerings are preparing to go to surrounding northern provinces to supply the upcoming full moon market in July.