Every year, between the 9th and 10th month in the lunar year, An Dinh Village, in the northern province of Hai Duong, has sandworm season.

This is an occasion for children in Tu Ky District’s An Dinh Village to play in water, and run around fields to catch sandworms.

Millions of sandworms leave their nests to float on the water's' surface. They swim like, creating a very impressive images. At this time, field owners discharge the water and prepare tools to catch the worms.

 According to local people, sandworms often float on the water surface after the rain. Phan Van Thang, the owner of a pond, said his lagoon always has sandworms, but the peak time is between the 9th and 10th moth in the lunar year. 

Children catching sandworms

When living in mud, a sandworm grow to be 50-60cm long, but coming to the shore, it is just 4-5cm. It is the best time to the hunt the worm.

A net used to catch sandworms

Around 40 households in An Dinh Village have sandworm lagoons covering 3,600 square metres each

Farmers can use their fields for both rice cultivation and the breeding of sandworms

Traders come to the village to buy sandworms, a kind of rare specialty

This year, a kilogramme of fresh sandworm is priced at VND370,000 (USD17.6), but due to the high demand, sandworm has been sold well

Sandworms have been transported to Hanoi and HCM City and exported to some countries, including China

Sandworms put into spongy boxes for being transported to other localities

Sandworms can live in an environment of little water for 3-4 days and they can live in fridge for a week.

Sandworm egg

Despite high investment for the sandworm breeding estimated at some VND300-400 million (USD14,285-19,000), the high price helps farmers to recover their investment quickly

Most of people mix sandworms with different kinds of vegetables to make a fried dish

In some places, sandworms used as a ingredient for hot pot

Coming to Tu Ky District this time, visitors can enjoy sandworm-made dishes at all local restaurants. Some restaurants can use sandworms to make nine different dishes