Gold rush distorts mutant orchids market
By Long Nguyen  May 12, 2021 | 12:19 pm GMT+7
Many people investing a fortune to make an easy killing from ‘mutant orchids’ are seeing their dreams wither over scams and other troubles.
Four months after spending VND300 million ($13,108) on a branch of a wild orchid, Nguyen Dinh Toan, 45, is proud of his achievement: a five-petal white flower with a pink stigma. Some people wanted to pay me VND470 million for this, but I did not agree, said the businessman residing in Hanoi’s Long Bien District.
Toan said he had visited many orchid gardens in Hanoi and the northern province of Hoa Binh before splurging on a so-called mutant orchid.