Residents of the capital city of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) greeted Mother's Day with a shopping spree on Sunday, the third since Nov. 16 was established by top leader Kim Jong Un as the country's Mother's Day in 2012.
On the street a lot of people were walking home with a bunch of various flowers in hand -- carnations, roses, or even plastic flowers, as they are the most common and popular gifts for mothers on such a special day.
Small florists, which are everywhere in Pyongyang, see Mother's Day as a great opportunity to cash in. In many places people have to wait in line to buy flowers, a bouquet of them is usually sold at a price ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 DPRK won (about 0.7 to 1.4 U.S. dollars).
In the DPRK, the word "mother" carries broader meanings than the biological mother who gave birth to a new life. It also refers to the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, which is often called "the mother party".
On the day the DPRK people not only give gifts to their own mothers, but visit the tombstones of the mothers of former and current top leaders, Kim Jong Suk and Ko Young Hee. Ko Young Hee is referred to as the mother of the "Songun Korea" (military-first Korea). People took a bow and then left a bunch of flowers before the bronze statues of the mothers of the country.
At An San Kwan, a Japanese restaurant sitting close to Potong River, a waitress who refused to give her name told Xinhua that she bought her mother a down jacket as a gift this year, and last year she bought flowers.
She said that although many families eat out on Mother's Day, she would choose to dine at home to enjoy the happiness and fun with her family.
The number of people going out to buy clothes and local cosmetics is surging on Mother's Day. A saleswoman at a famed cosmetics store that sells domestic cosmetics said the footfall of visitors on this holiday witness a fourfold increase.
She recommended a new set of homegrown cosmetics exclusively for sale on Mother's Day, which includes five silver white bottles priced at 129 dollars.
"This is the upscale set in our store and we've sold eight sets between yesterday and today," she said. "We sold four sets this morning alone."
Asked of the best-selling cosmetics, the saleswoman took out a set wrapped in a similar high-quality box, saying 42 sets of this kind had been sold these two days. The set, originally priced at 49 dollars, was sold at 47 dollars at a discount for the holiday.
The cosmetics, with the brand name of "Kum Gang San", the most famous tourist destination in the DPRK, now account for 80 percent of the total consumer market shares.
At the Unha clothing store right opposite the cosmetics shop, people were scrambling to try on and buy new fashion clothes. Not only local people, but also a lot of foreigners also like picking up clothes there.
Windproof jackets or cotton-stuffed coats, which are often sold at 30 dollars or so, are very popular with local people.
In 1961, 1998 and 2005, the DPRK celebrated Mother's Day on different dates. On Nov. 16, 2012, the country held the fourth national mothers' meeting and Kim ordered that day to become the country's Mother's Day and a national holiday. Endi
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