Handmade lanterns still glow in Ho Chi Minh City despite factory-made rivals

With more than a month to go before the festival, workshops in the city’s best-known traditional lantern-making village are already busy filling orders.

Traditional lantern makers work through the holiday

Phu Binh lantern-making village in Hoa Binh Ward has long been known as Ho Chi Minh City’s largest hub for producing and trading lanterns. 

During the September 2 National Day holiday, local artisans remain busy completing orders for customers.

At the home of artisan Nguyen Dinh Chien in Hoa Binh Ward on Wednesday morning, work continued as usual.

Chien was mixing paint and decorating unfinished lanterns while preparing orders for customers.

His family makes around 10,000 lanterns each Mid-Autumn season, with production starting as early as March or April.

The process involves buying and splitting bamboo, shaping frames, pasting paper, and painting or printing decorative patterns by hand. 

Popular designs include stars, rabbits, chickens, butterflies, and airplanes, he said.

The work is labor-intensive.

Chien said he often starts early in the morning and continues until 10:00 or 11:00 pm, while some complicated designs take so long that only four lanterns can be completed in a full day.

Yet prices have fallen.

A handmade lantern that once sold for around VND22,000 (US$0.83) now fetches only about VND17,000-18,000 ($0.64-0.68) as artisans struggle to compete with cheaper factory-made products.

“If you calculate all the time and labor involved in bending the frames, pasting the paper and painting, the income is very low,” Chien said.

“Some days, I earn less than VND300,000 [$11.40].”

Many families have already abandoned the trade because they can no longer make a living from it, he sighed.

A few years ago, handmade lanterns still drew large crowds of buyers. But over the past two or three years, mass-produced products have become increasingly dominant, steadily squeezing traditional lanterns out of the market.

With cheap industrial lanterns now widely available, Chien said only those deeply attached to the craft have chosen to stay.

“Even though the work is hard and the income is low, we keep doing it every day to preserve this traditional culture,” he said.

Mid-Autumn market begins to pick up

Elsewhere in Ho Chi Minh City, retailers have begun preparing for the Mid-Autumn shopping season.

At a lantern and toy shop on Huynh Van Banh Street in Phu Nhuan Ward, both traditional and modern designs are already on display.

An employee said paper lanterns decorated with cartoon characters and animal motifs are expected to be popular this year, with prices ranging from VND30,000 ($1.14) to VND40,000 ($1.52).

Many are fitted with battery-powered flashing lights.

Traditional-style lanterns, including star, carp, and chicken designs, are priced at around VND70,000 ($2.66), although some use plastic rather than bamboo frames.

Sales are expected to accelerate from now until the Mid-Autumn Festival, with the busiest period falling between the fifth and 14th days of the eighth lunar month.

Several bookstores in the city have also stocked lanterns but are waiting until after the National Day holiday to expand their displays.

Some products currently in storage are priced at around VND31,000-40,000 ($1.18-1.52) each.