There is a place where Saigon people can buy decoration items for their houses and working places at good prices in Ho Chi Minh City. They call the area Hai Thuong Lan Ong Decoration Street (Phố Trang Trí Hải Thượng Lãn Ông) which is lined with dozens of decoration stores selling thousands of colorful decorations at retail and wholesale. The street is the most crowded during Vietnamese festivals and celebrations when everybody would like to make their places as beautiful as possible.
Location
Decoration Street or Decoration Market in Saigon China Town refers to the section of Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street, District 5, Ho Chi Minh City from Chau Van Liem Roundabout to Cuu Long Park, streets crossing the section such as Phung Hung, Tong Duy Tan, Chau Van Liem. CLICK HERE to see the location of the famous decoration street which is about 8 km from Ben Thanh Market.
The decoration street starts from Chau Van Liem Roundabout to Cuu Long Park. The wide Hai Thuong Lan Ong with a pedestrian walkway in the middle of its lanes is one of the main streets in Saigon China Town so that it is always crowded.
What are sold in Hai Thuong Lan Ong Decoration Street?
Hai Thuong Lan Ong Decoration Street sells everything customers need to decorate their houses, offices, restaurants, coffee shops, etc. On normal days, they sell lanterns, artificial flowers and plants, lights, wedding decorations, invitation cards, baskets, ribbons and other flower arrangement supplies.
Hai Thuong Lan Ong Decoration Street is not only lined with decoration stores but also green old trees.
Five-color Buddhist flags and flags of the Communist Party of Vietnam are sold popularly at retail and wholesale.
A store sells baskets, ribbons and other flower arrangement tools, gift wraps. Signboards read names of the stores and addresses in both Vietnamese and Chinese.
Lighting stores sell led strings in different colors and shapes, light bulbs, even electric fans.
During special festivals and celebrations, the stores in the area sell seasonal decorations.
Tet Festival
During Vietnamese Tet festival, red and yellow colors dominate the street.
This decoration store attracts customers with colorful decoration items hung in front of it. They sell lanterns, decorative strings, parallel sentences, artificial golden apricot blossoms, peach apricot blossoms, Happy New Year banners and strings, models of watermelons and traditional sticky rice cakes.
There are different kinds of lanterns: round paper lanterns, red velvet lanterns with characters and images, Hoi An fabric lanterns. Styrofoam golden apricot bossom wall stickers, plastic mouse wall stickers (Mouse New Year), red pockets, artificial flowers, models of whole and piece of watermelon, square and cylindric sticky rice cakes, are popular decorations at Tet festival in Vietnam.
Everything including parallel sentences, lanterns, decorative strings are red and golden.
The decoration street looks stunning when the sun goes down and they lighten the lights.
The traditional Vietnamese decorations at Tet festival and wedding.
Artificial vines, plants, leaves, flowers are hung on strings, put in big packages, vases, pots and baskets.
A nice styrofoam wall sticker in the shape of a fan with golden apricot flowers.
Red canvas and paper packages with images relating to Tet festival are favorite of many people.
Sycees, dragon, three-leg toad figurines, confetti fireworks popper cannon sticks sold during Tet festival.
Read more about Top 10 Decorations at Vietnamese Tet Festival, most of which can be bought in Hai Thuong Lan Ong Decoration Street.
Chrismas
Styrofoam snowmen, stuffed Santa Claus, Chrismas ball ornaments, bells, Christmas strings, sticks, etc.
Sparkling colorful Christmas strings.
Red dresses for girls, Santa Claus Outfits products for childrens.
The narrow Tong Duy Tan Street which is perpendicular to Hai Thuong Lan Ong Street has become a decoration street.
Activities in Hai Thuong Lan Ong Decoration Street
Most of the vendors are Chinese Vietnamese who have ancestors immigrating into Saigon, they usually talk to each other in Chinese and Vietnamese. The signboards are usually in Vietnamese and Chinese. The vendors can hire Chinese or Vietnamese sellers, workers, shippers. All of them are friendly and helpful but speak limited English. The street is always crowded with retail customers and retail vendors in Ho Chi Minh City and other provinces in South Vietnam. Shippers transfer decorations by motorbike, motorized three-wheel vehicles, trucks, etc.
Foreign visitors can go to the decoration street, learn more about the local life, and buy nice decorations themselves. It is better to go with locals if they would like to buy something here. The locals will help foreigners to choose products, communicate with vendors and bargain.
A three-wheel vehicle with big packages of styrofoam flowers.
