On Sunday, the bustling trading ambience was recorded at many gold shops across Da Nang as many city-dwellers flocked to buy gold on the occasion of the God of Wealth Day (Caishen Day or Than Tai in Vietnamese), which falls on the 10^th day of the 1^st lunar month).

Many city-dwellers flocked to buy gold on the occasion of the God of Wealth Day

As per Vietnamese tradition, the 10^th day of the Lunar New Year, is the day when the God of Wealth returns to heaven. Therefore, Vietnamese people have a tradition of buying gold on that day to hope for good luck and prosperity throughout the year.

A Phu Nhuan Jewelry Joint Stock Company (PNJ) gold shop at 143 Nguyen Van Linh opened its door earlier than normal days at 6.00am on Sunday.

Besides traditional products, PNJ offered modern designs using the latest technologies for sale to its customers on the God of Wealth Day

To meet the expected spike in demand, the PNJ jewellery company has stocked up on various kinds of gold products, including traditional figurines of the God of Wealth inscribed with the words of Phuc (Happiness), Loc (Prosperity), Tai (Wealth), and Tho (Longevity).

Besides, since this is the lunar Year of the Buffalo, the buffalo is also widely featured on gold products.

The bustling trading ambience was seen at a DOJI shop at 172 Hung Vuong.

PNJ has launched the Kim Nguu jewellery collection made of 18k gold and charm bracelets with a buffalo made of 24k gold and “Lucky” written on it. PNJ has also launched a limited edition set of three gold pieces, Xuan Phu Quy.

Le Tri Thong, CEO of PNJ, said the company has been preparing for this day since the middle of last year. “This year, besides our traditional products, we also have modern designs using our latest technologies to offer customers more choices.”

With gold prices much higher than in previous years, the company has products in a wider price range than last year for affordability, he said.

It is known that in Central Viet Nam, PNJ runs 37 shops, of which 15 are currently in Da Nang.

Other jewellery companies like DOJI, Sacombank Jewelry Company (Sacombank -SBJ), Phu Quy Gold, and Sai Gon Jewelry Company Limited (SJC) have also launched new products.

As a new trend emerging over the past two years, many female customers prefer to buy jewelry products instead of gold bars as previously.

SJC has a lucky gold series with figurines of buffalos made of 24k gold and weighing one to 10 taels (a tael equals 37.5g) with sophisticated and vivid carvings, and a 0.1 tael 24k bar inscribed with images of the buffalo and the words of Phuc, Loc and Tho.

DOJI has 24k buffalo figurines weighing nearly 0.3 taels and 0.1, 0.2 and 0.5 tael gold bars inscribed with the image of the buffalo, the God of Wealth and more.

A gold price table is displayed at a PNJ Shop at 143 Nguyen Van Linh on the God of Wealth Day.

In a similar vein, the bustling trading ambience was also seen at a DOJI shop at 172 Hung Vuong.

Like others of its kind in Da Nang, the shop offered a variety of products with diverse forms, and prices to enable people to buy on this special day.

In particular, many sold gold online with the price fixed at the time of order and delivery to be made on the Gold of Wealth Day.

Customers to a PNJ gold shop at 143 Nguyen Van Linh is seen being their body temperatures measured at the entrance gate.

Despite fears over the spread of the coronavirus, local residents still maintain this tradition. Therefore, the purchasing power of local consumers is expected to remain unchanged from a year ago.

All customers and staff at a gold shop on Trung Nu Vuong Street are seen wear face masks during transactions

Many preventive measures were put in place in gold shops across Da Nang to protect customers and staff amid the COVID-19 threat. All customers to shops were required to wear face masks and wash their hands with sanitizer gel and undergo compulsory body temperature measurements at the entrance gate.

By HOANG LINH- Translated by A.T