Yen So fish market, Hanoi, operates all night before Ong Cong and Ong Tao day.
Yen So fish market (Hoang Mai district, Hanoi) is one of the largest wholesale fish markets in Hanoi. Every year, close to the day of worshiping Ong Cong and Ong Tao, this market is bustling, noisy, and sells all night long because people and traders flock here to buy red carp, a type of fish that is considered by folklore to be a means to help Ong Cong and Ong Tao return to heaven.
According to VTC News reporters, from 2am on January 31 (December 21), Yen So fish market attracted hundreds of traders to receive red carp transported from Phu Tho, Hai Duong , Nam Dinh provinces... and then distributed to traditional markets and supermarkets in Hanoi.
Carp imported from other places will be scooped out and released into large tanks of oxygenated water to sustain life.
Fish are skillfully selected and classified by size by traders to meet all people's needs.
After carefully selecting, the trader will weigh the fish and pay.
Workers at Yen So fish market have to wear raincoats and catch fish bare-handed in the freezing cold winter night.
Ms. Nguyen Thi May, a trader at Yen So fish market, said: "I import fish from Nam Dinh and Thai Binh. The quality of red carp this year is also better, with more eye-catching colors. However, due to supply exceeding demand, the price of red carp this year is cheaper than previous years."
"The price of red carp in previous years was at most 100,000 - 250,000 VND/kg, but this year the good ones are only 80,000 - 90,000 VND/kg, and the unselected ones are 60,000 VND/kg," said Ms. May.
Ms. May added that although Ong Cong and Ong Tao Day is coming, purchasing power is increasing slowly, partly because this year Ong Cong and Ong Tao Day falls on a weekday, so consumers are not as picky as last year. Partly because of economic difficulties, people are also more economical.
Bright red carp at Yen So fish market.
"The hot tubs have to operate all night to keep the fish fresh and healthy when they reach consumers. Any fish that shows signs of weakness or is weak will be rejected by customers and immediately discarded," said a fish seller.
"Not only has red carp lost its purchasing power, but this year ice cubes are also sluggish. In warm years, people buy ice to keep fish alive, but this year it's cold so they don't need to use much. Purchasing power is not even half of what it was in previous years, while prices have not changed, hot or cold, the price remains the same at 30,000 VND/cube," said Ms. Chu Thi Tam, who sells ice cubes at Yen So market.
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