Half a million dong for a pair of gold-plated coconuts and "giant" grapefruits

Coconut and grapefruit are popular fruits to display during Tet with the hope of bringing fortune and luck in the first days of the new year.

These days, the Ha Dong Tet flower market is crowded with year-end shoppers. Every year at this time, Mrs. Binh and her children sell "giant" grapefruits, alongside other fruits for the altar such as Buddha's hand, green bananas... She said that to have large, round, and beautiful grapefruits, about 2-3 months before Tet, she has to order in advance from the gardener, choosing "selected" products. Around December 24 or 25, the gardener will pack them in boxes and transport them to Hanoi.

"This fruit sells quite well near Tet, the price this year is not much higher than last year," she said.

Customers buy mainly to display the fruit tray on the ancestral altar. This type of grapefruit is fresh and can be displayed on the fruit tray for half a month to 20 days without spoiling. "Some days I sell more than ten fruits, other days I sell only five or seven fruits," said Ms. Binh.

This year, instead of candies, jams, etc., Ms. Hang (Ha Dong, Hanoi) chose to buy "giant" grapefruit to display on the five-fruit tray as gifts for relatives. "This year, I went to the market early to choose the most beautiful pomelos to give as Tet gifts," she said, adding that she had just chosen the 5 most satisfactory fruits to give as gifts.

Ms. Hang shared her experience in choosing this fruit, that the fruit must have shiny, smooth skin, a stem that is not too deep and the leaves are still green. However, according to her, this grapefruit variety is oversized so "not everyone likes it".

The "giant" grapefruit is actually the Ky Da grapefruit variety, originating from Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang and is currently grown in many places in Lam Dong (Thuy Nguyen, Hai Phong), Chuong My, Dan Phuong (Hanoi)...

This type of grapefruit has a beautiful appearance, large fruit, even segments and is 4-5 times the size of a normal grapefruit. Each fruit weighs 3-7 kg, some even weigh 10 kg, and is sold for 400,000-800,000 VND, some even cost up to 1-1.5 million VND.

This grapefruit variety is only harvested once a year during Tet, and the planting and care techniques are more difficult than other varieties. There is only one crop per year, so from the fourth lunar month, the garden owner has to use techniques to process the flowering at the right time. Then, when the fruit appears, the grower will wrap each fruit in plastic to prevent insects from biting the grapefruit and spoiling its appearance.

In addition to grapefruit, an indispensable fruit on the five-fruit tray, other fruits such as watermelon, coconut... are also sought after by many people to display during Tet. Having appeared on the Hanoi market for several years, this year gold-plated coconuts and watermelons are unique items that have attracted the attention of the capital's residents despite their rather "expensive" prices.

Each pair of industrial gold-plated coconuts, painted with calligraphy, displayed on a tray of five fruits, is sold by Mr. Hao, a fruit trader at Ha Dong market, for 450,000 - 500,000 VND; gold-plated grapefruits, painted with calligraphy, are 200,000 - 400,000 VND a pair... He said that because industrial gold leaf, the type often used in interior decoration and fine arts, is very thin, the process of gilding coconuts requires skill, meticulousness and effort.

According to Mr. Hao, coconuts and grapefruits chosen for gold plating must have stems, shiny skin, uniform shape and mature fruit, to avoid fruit that has changed shape due to being too young or the shell losing water.

Besides gold-plated coconuts, coconuts, watermelons or grapefruits painted with embossed letters, calligraphy or laser engraving are also popular among people. These types are softer, ranging from 150,000 - 300,000 VND per pair and customers often buy them in pairs to give as gifts or display during Tet.

According to VnExpress