From 7-8 am this morning, the Tan Chau Market (Tan Chau Town, Tan Chau District, Tay Ninh Province) was bustling with the laughter and chatter of vendors and shoppers for the annual God of Wealth Market – on the 10th day of the Lunar New Year every year.
According to our observation, during the 2024 Lunar New Year of the Horse, Kim Long Tai Gold Shop (Street 1, Tan Chau Town, near Tan Chau Market) always had a continuous flow of customers. At around 7:30 this morning, the store noted a good number of direct customers. The store employees even live-streamed on the official fan page to reach out to consumers.
Mr. Minh Tai, manager of Kim Long Tai Gold Shop, stated that all the gold brought in for the Lunar New Year had been sold due to the large number of customers. On the God of Wealth Market day, the store had to restock with new products and designs. “The number of customers on the God of Wealth Market day is 5 times higher than other days,” Mr. Tai told reporters when observing the sales staff.
The demand from customers buying gold on the God of Wealth Market day is also diverse, not necessarily for luck. “I just want to change to a new style, I don’t really pay attention to the God of Wealth day,” said a female customer of Kim Long Tai.
At other gold shops around Tan Chau Market, the number of customers increased compared to ordinary days. However, it was not as crowded as Kim Long Tai. According to Ms. Thanh Trang, owner of Kim Thanh Trang Gold Shop, the number of customers buying gold at the beginning of the year was spread out, not just focused on the God of Wealth Market day. Many customers chose to place orders via Facebook and then come to pick up the items later to avoid crowding.
“This year, gold prices have risen and the economy is difficult. The price of gold is now equivalent to the salary of some people, so the number of customers is not the same as previous years,” Ms. Trang said. At this store, customers mainly choose to buy gold jewelry items priced at 2-3 million VND. At 8 am on February 19, Kim Thanh Trang store listed smooth rings with 99% purity for 6.3 million VND per chi, equivalent to 63 million VND per tael.
Other shops in the Tan Chau Town area had a moderate number of customers, which was expected to increase when the weather became cooler, as it was currently hot and sunny in Tan Chau (Tay Ninh).
The “Golden Lane” in the Tan Chau Market area was also less crowded. Some customers hurried into their familiar stores. According to some gold shop owners, most of their customers were regular ones because it is more beneficial to buy where they sold instead of other gold shops. “This price difference is like mitigating risks when bringing in ‘rare gold’ to their own shop,” one gold shop owner said.
On the God of Wealth Market day, there were also grilled snakehead fish for sale. One grilled snakehead fish shop even gave away lucky gold cloth bags for worshipping the God of Wealth. The amount of grilled fish for sale this morning was not as much as the grilled fish street in Tan Ky Tan Quy – Ho Chi Minh City. Tan Chau, Tay Ninh Province, is a border district adjacent to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
