1st time in years, local lanterns beat China to dominate market A man and his daughter choose lantern at Co.op Mart Dinh Tien Hoang in Ho Chi Minh City August 25, 2013. Tuoi Tre Nguyen Tang Sy and all of his family members are busy these days creating the Vietnamese traditional lanterns to fulfill “an astonishing amount of orders” for this year’s mid-autumn festival at his house in District 11, where some 6,000 lanterns are hung up everywhere pending delivery. Sy used to make only 4,000 such products in the previous years, but today a stock of 6,000 does not seem enough, he says with a broad smile. For the first time in nearly a decade, the made-in-Vietnam lanterns have surpassed their Chinese counterparts to win back market share on home soil, according to lantern makers and vendors citywide. This is mainly because of last year’s discovery that Chinese plastic, battery-powered toys are contaminated, they say, adding parents do not want to have their children play with harmful toys. Some parents also say the music produced by the Chinese lanterns is too loud and annoying. The traditional lanterns, like those that Sy is making, are made from bamboo frames and cellophane, and lit by a candle, in the shapes of animals and cartoon figures familiar to kids. They are on sale at VND30,000-VND36,000 each, more affordable and yet safer than Chinese products which fetch up to VND100,000 an item. During the festival last year, samples of several types of Chinese lanterns were found to contain an amount of cadmium that is 123 times higher than the allowed rate. Cadmium (Cd) is an extremely toxic metal found in some industrial paints, and may represent a hazard when sprayed. It is one of the three most hazardous metals besides lead and quicksilver, and can cause prostate and lung cancer, and fetal malformations. This enables Vietnamese products to dominate the market this year, with supermarkets citywide claiming they only sell Vietnamese lanterns, while toy shops say the traditional products account for up to 80 percent of their stocks. The mid-autumn festival is annually observed by local people on August 15 of the Lunar Year. Traditionally, all family members will gather at night to drink tea, eat mooncake, and enjoy the full moon, while children play with their candle-lit lanterns. The festival this year falls on September 19. TUOITRENEWS