It's hard to find ancient wild peach branches on sale in the northern mountainous province of Son La, due to their overexploitation by the local people.



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Wild peach is an ornamental tree used by the people of the northern region during the Lunar New Year Festival.

In recent years, people in Ha Noi and other northern provinces have shown increased preference for wild peach branches in decorating their homes during Tet, instead of the usual cultivated ones from Ha Noi's Nhat Tan Village.
 
 

The massive exploitation of the trees, especially old trees, has made them scarce. National Highway No 6, running through Yen Chau and Moc Chau districts of Son La Province, was bustling with the sale and purchase of the trees.

However, several buyers there said that they found it hard to get wild peach branches as beautiful as they desired.

Nguyen Van Manh, from the northern Ha Nam Province, said that he has driven to Son La every year to buy ancient wild peach tree branches for Tet, and he always got beautiful ones.

But this year, he couldn't find any good branches. He even went to the villages of the ethnic H'Mong minority people and visited their gardens, but it was in vain, he said.

Lu A Thien, a seller at Ta Lang T-Junction in Yen Chau District, said that few ancient wild peach branches are available, as people rushed to chop the trees down in the past for profit.

Nguyen Van Dat, a trader from the northern Hai Phong City, agreed, saying that he chose only the small branches of a few ancient peach trees in the gardens of the ethnic people. Large branches with beautiful blossoms seemed to have disappeared, he said.

In the province's markets, peach branches are sold for rates between VND200,000 (US$9.4) and VND2 million (US$94), depending on their type.

VNS