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Collecting chestnuts with Chi Linh people

LINH LINH • 17/11/2023 10:16

People in some communes in Chi Linh city, Hai Duong province, go to forests on the last days of every autumn to collect chestnuts.

Chestnuts covers an area of about 1,200 ha in Chi Linh city. It is easy to come across immense lush chestnuts on the mountains of the city’s Hoang Hoa Tham and Bac An communes

Big chestnut trees that are tens or even hundreds of years old are preserved by local people

The chestnut season begins around the 9th lunar month. Chestnuts on heavily-laden trees may fall to the ground with a rain or strong wind

Rays of autumn sunlight pass through the foliage, revealing rough chestnuts among dry leaves

Some forests have a lot of chestnuts for people to collect, such as Ho Dinh dam area, Cong Binh forest, or chestnut hills assigned to some local people. There are many steep slopes that make it difficult for people to pick chestnuts up

The forests are usually silent but filled with the sound of laughter and conversations during the chestnut season

Chestnut pickers wear long-sleeved shirts and pants and carefully cover themselves to avoid mosquitos and insects

They also wear rubber gloves so as not to be cut by thorny shells

A bunch of dried chestnuts is stuck on a canopy

A basket is full of chestnuts in just a moment thanks to diligent collection

This year’s yield of chestnuts is less than last year, according to local people

Chestnuts are carefully winnowed to remove thorny shells and damaged seeds for sale. This year, chestnuts are priced at 30,000 - 40,000 VND/kg

The chestnut season lasts only over one month. Climbing over steep hills and collecting Chi Linh chestnuts with your own hands are definitely interesting experiences

LINH LINH

LINH LINH