Da Nang has seen an abundance of children toys on sale at local shops in these days leading up to the Mid-autumn Festival, which this year falls on 15 September.

A local shopper buying a lantern

The majority of the toys for children on sale at shops along Hung Vuong in Hai Chau District are Vietnamese-made products.  They include lanterns made of plastic paper, drums, and handmade lion heads.  In particular, the plastic paper lanterns, which are printed with the images of cute cartoon characters, are attracting a great deal of attention from local children.  Such lanterns are priced at between 25,000 VND and 40,000 VND each. 

However, a large number of Chinese toys which do not have quality assurance stamps are being sold at shops on Ong Ich Duong in Cam Le District, and those located near Hoa Khanh Market in Lien Chieu District.

The prices of Chinese toys are higher than the Vietnamese ones, at between 30,000 VND and 50,000 VND each.  However, they are preferred by many local shoppers due to their diverse and eye-catching designs.

Over recent days, a wide variety of mooncakes have been on sale at local markets, and they are in plentiful supply.

Stall selling mooncakes

Most of the mooncake stalls along local streets are selling products of renowned Vietnamese brand names, including Kinh Do, Bibica, and Dong Khanh.  The mooncakes at these stalls are priced at between 20,000 VND and 200,000 VND each.  In contrast, the price of high-grade products containing shark’s fin and swallow’s nests ranges from several hundred to several millions of VND per box of 4.

In addition, a wide selection of homemade mooncakes is being advertised on the Internet, and they are attracting a great deal of attention from young buyers.

At some local markets, various types of mooncakes at low cost are on display, and many of them are priced at only 5,000 VND each.  However, the majority of these cheap cakes have no product labels.