Many lantern shops on Luong Nhu Hoc and Phu Dinh streets in Ho Chi Minh City have hung boards saying no to photo takers and posers who don’t buy their products.

The area used to be an ideal setting for teenagers to shoot photos on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival when the whole area turns into a colorful market specializing in lanterns.

However, in recent years, many local sellers have complained that a large number of their products were damaged since a lot of teenagers flocked in and used lanterns like props to pose without buying them. As the result, many boards with words like “Please do not take photos here, ” “Photo shoot prohibited here” or “Buy then shoot” have been seen everywhere in the area.

“Recently teenagers, especially beautiful girls have kept standing in front of my shop to pose for pictures. That prevents our customers from coming to the shop to buy goods. Some youths even didn’t apologize when they accidentally broke my lanterns. Some even went in groups of 10, messed up my shop then walked away without buying a single lantern,” Hong, a lantern shop owner lamented.

"Please do not take pictures here". Photo: Internet

Thanh Nam, a youth who often comes to the area to take pictures when the festival arrives said that shop owners in the area are very nice and willing to allow people to take photos in their shops if they do not mess up the business.

“We can’t blame them since they open shops for business while a lot of teenagers come here just for taking photos,” Nam said.

"No photo taking". Phot: Internet