Thousand-dollar bronze roosters become Tet gifts for wealthy Vietnamese
TUOI TRE NEWS
UPDATED : 01/23/2017 20:04 GMT + 7
Wealthy Vietnamese now have a new gift option during Tet holiday – rooster replicas made entirely of bronze, valued at anywhere up to one thousand dollars.
The bronze rooster sculptures can be found on sale along busy shopping streets in the capital including Hang Ma and Luong Van Can, with buyers prepared to pay handsomely for the sculptures.
Hung, a car salesman in Hanoi, bought the biggest available model for VND25 million (US$1,116) to give to his in-laws as a Tet present.
Tet is the Vietnamese way of referring to the Lunar New Year festival, which lasts for a week starting on January 28.
In previous years, Hung would buy a pair of live roosters, as per custom.
The car salesman said besides the originality and good design, the bronze rooster sculptures make the perfect gift for the upcoming Year of the Rooster.
Besides the VND25 million model, Hung spent nearly VND10 million ($446) on a smaller one for his own family.
The sculptor, Mai, comes from Dai Bai, a famous bronze sculpture craft village in the nearby province of Bac Ninh.
“We transported a truck load of the sculptures from the village to Dong Xuan Market in Hanoi ten days before Tet,” she said.
Mai revealed that her village had been making bronze rooster sculptures for years, but the product has only become sought after in the "Tet of the rooster."
“To embrace the opportunity, artisans at the village have been introducing many new designs,” she added.
As per tradition, the rooster can help prevent ‘bad energy’ and conflict, bringing happiness and luck. “This is why the bronze rooster statues are selling well this year,” Mai said.
She confirmed that the VND25 million model is the biggest and most expensive among her family’s product line.
]
Click here to continue reading
http://tuoitrenews.vn/business/39295...thy-vietnamese