For over a week now, many sellers must take turns staying up all night to look after the flowers they brought all the way from their farms in the Mekong Delta to sell in Ho Chi Minh City.
At each stall, there are field beds, tents, and hammocks so that traders can have a place to lie down and guard the flowers.
On Monday night, four days until Tet, vendor Dang Thi Binh from Ben Tre Province began setting up a bed in the middle of the lawn in Go Vap District’s Gia Dinh Park to take a few hours of sleep with her daughter.
She covers the mosquito net with a plastic sheet to avoid the dew.
Binh's family brought paper flowers from Cho Lach District of Ben Tre to sell a week ago, but so far, they have not attracted many buyers.
She said that every year she must wait until two days before the new lunar year to know for sure if she can sell all her flowers and return home in time to celebrate Tet.
At a bus stop next to Gia Dinh Park, many people put up mosquito nets, lie in hammocks or sleep on the sidewalk.
They said that usually they only sleep about three hours each night.
"It’s not only cold at night but there are also a lot of mosquitoes, because there are many trees and bushes here," the vendor said while burning incense to repel mosquitoes.
The park's electrical system is connected with each flower stall, ensuring the minimum daily needs of the small businesses.
Nguyen Van Hung, 38, cooks instant noodles for dinner.
Coming from Ben Tre to HCMC, he brought along 10 sets of clothes, chairs, hammocks, blankets and a gas stove. He bought bottled water and used the watering can to boil water to make noodles and brew tea.
"My sleep is only fitful. Sometimes I'm too tired but I still have to stay awake. I've sold Tet flowers here for many years now and they have never been stolen," he said.
At September 23rd Park in District 1, at 1 a.m. Tuesday, Nguyen Thanh Hoa, 47, was still trying to stay awake watching her peach blossoms. Inside the mosquito net, her husband slept first before getting up to change shifts with her.
For more than a decade now, every year when it is 10 days until Tet, Hoa and her husband transport more than 100 peach trees from Hanoi to HCMC for sale.
"A few years ago, I had my flowers stolen. Someone broke the branches, so I had to stay up to look after them. Sometimes, customers come late at night," she said.
A woman temporarily washes her clothes and hangs them on a tree.
She said that most traders bathe in public toilets, and often leave their dirty clothes untouched until they finish selling flowers and then go home to wash them all at once.
At dawn, Pham Hong Son, 60, lit incense and prayed for good luck and good sales.
This Tet, he brought 250 bonsai peach trees from Nhat Tan farming area in Hanoi to HCMC for sale.
He said, peach blossoms cost higher in Ho Chi Minh City than in the north due to transport costs.
"I've had a good business so far, now there are only about 30 pots left. Probably, I will be able sell them before New Year's Eve," he said.
Son delivers a pot of peach blossoms on Monday night.
Vendors said the period of three days before Tet would decide whether they gain profits or incur losses.
Flower markets in parks across HCMC will close at noon on the final day of the lunar calendar to allow time for cleaning and preparations for the Lunar New Year celebrations.
After a tiring day of work, flower sellers sit together for a drink.
Hoang Manh Doan (3rd, L) said that the sellers come from all over such as Hanoi, Phu Yen, Dong Thap, and Ben Tre.
"This year the economy is difficult, so buyers are also picky, but it's okay, we just have to be happy for Tet," he said holding a glass of beer.
