A local man in the north-central Vietnamese province of Nghe An is still awaiting a better bid for his 100-year-old tangerine tree after recently turning down a nearly US$7,000 bid.

The fruit-laden tangerine tree, belonging to Anh Tuan, 35, is currently on display at a flower market in the provincial capital of Vinh to celebrate Tet, or the Vietnamese Lunar New Year.

Tuan said he purchased the ‘marvelous’ mushroom-shaped tree from an ethnic Thai person in Quy Hop District only a few days prior.

“I had to hire local men to take the tree from the remote village to the highway using a carrying pole. It took them two days,” Tuan said.

The tree then traveled another 100km from Quy Hop to Vinh by truck, Tuan added.

The tangerine tree measures 25cm in diameter and stands nearly four meters tall. Hundreds of ready-to-eat fruits hang from the tree’s 3.5 meter long branches.

Bonsai experts say there are very few natural tangerine trees with such a large diameter.

“This morning someone offered to buy my tree for VND150 million [$6,696] but I rejected the offer. I don’t think that’s the best price,” Tuan said proudly.

In Vietnam, it is common for ‘marvelous’ trees and flowers to be on sale at hefty prices during Tet, which begins on January 28 this year.

In Ho Chi Minh City, some farmers are selling grapefruit trees for VND30 million ($1,339) apiece, while yellow apricot blossom trees, a traditional flower for Tet in southern Vietnam, that fetch hundreds of millions of dong are not uncommon. (VND100 million = $4,464).

These grapefruit trees cost VND30 million each.

And these yellow apricot trees fetch at least VND100 million each.

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