Highland
Market
Markets in highland
areas where ethnic minorities reside are not only
places of commerce, but also cultural festivals.
People
wear their nicest clothes and spend some days at
the market. They may play their pan-flutes, dance,
sing and meet new friends. Therefore, markets in
highland areas are also called Love Markets.
Bac Ha Market
Location:
Bac Ha Market is in Bac Ha District, Lao
Cai Province; about 80km from downtown Sapa.
Characteristics: It
is a trading centre and meeting place for couples,
friends, and relatives every Sunday.
There are many trees
around Bac Ha, and in the spring the countryside
is white with blossoms.
Every Sunday, Bac Ha hosts the biggest fair near
the mountainous highlands and the Chinese border.
It is a trading centre and meeting place for couples,
friends, and relatives, and it is a typical weekly
activity for the H’Mong and other minority
groups living in the locality. Local products for
sale or barter are carried on horseback.
At the fair, adventurous gastronomes
can try thang co blood porridge, a popular dish
of the H’Mong and other local people.
Sapa Market
Location:
Sapa Market is in Sapa Town, Sapa District,
Lao Cai Province.
Characteristics:
This market of the H’Mong and Red
Dao minorities takes place every Saturday night.
The market is a place for trading and exchanging
local goods and products, as well as a meeting
place for young people who seek partners by singing
love songs and playing pan-pipes and mouth organs.
When the sun goes
down, the H’Mong and Red Dao boys and girls
cluster together in groups of five to ten. Looking
and smiling at each other, they sit side by side
in the dim yellow light and sing and talk through
the night. When they have met their soul mate,
they exchange gifts and make plans to see each
other again the following week.
This cultural activity has a long history and
is still significant in the modern life of the
minority people. The Sapa Market is an attractive
place for visitors who are keen on exploring traditional
cultures.
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Floating
Markets
There is a very interesting kind of market in the
Mekong River Delta. Thousands of boats gather to
form a place of economic activity. Trading activities
take place all day, but the most exciting time is
in the morning when boats arrive loaded up with
agricultural products.
On
a cho noi (floating market) all trade activities
take place on boats. The largest cho noi include
Phung Hiep, Nga Bay, Phong Dien (in Hau Giang),
Cai Rang (in Can Tho) and Cai Be (in Tien Giang).
Most of the agricultural productions sold in cho
noi are for wholesalers, who then re-sell it to
food processing factories or ship it to the north.
Phung
Hiep Floating Market (Hau Giang)
Location:
Situated where seven branches of the Mekong
River and canals converge, 30km from Ninh Kieu
Wharf in the centre of Can Tho City.
Characteristics:
To Phung Hiep, visitors will see thousands
of small boats full of agricultural products from
Western corners to form 1km long floating market.
It's said to be a fruit-market of the Southern
part and the market is cultural identity of the
Mekong Delta.
The market meets
all day long, but most noisy and busy in the morning.
The precious evening, from far-and-wide, boats
full of seasonal vegetables and fruits: mangoes,
durians, bananas, oranges, coconuts... left their
villages to head for the sunrise market.
Every boat is full of fruits. Some boats are covered
with roofs, some are not. On boats without roofs,
the sellers have to hold high a stick hanging
with fruits as signaIs. Market-goers do not bargain,
just a few words exchange, they sell and get paid.
Normally, fruits are sold and brought to big boats.
Then they will be transported to fruit-processing
factories or to Ho Chi Minh City, Vung Tau, even
to Hanoi and Northern provinces.
It's a floating
market' but services are available, foods and
drinks on small boats twist and turn to serve
hungry sellers and buyers. Signal to buy is only
a whistling or waving band. Apart from fruits,
local products: snakes, birds, turtles... are
easy to find near Phung Hiep bridge. These specialties
are almost bought and brought to restaurants in
Can Tho or Ho Chi Minh City.
Cai Be
Floating Market(Tien Giang)
Location: Cai
Be Floating Market is held where the Tien Giang
River forms the border between the provinces of
Tien Giang, Vinh Long, and Ben Tre. It takes about
one hour to reach the market from the town of
Vinh Long Province.
Characteristics:
Approximately 400 to 500 boats filled with
fruits, vegetables, and other products are anchored
along the banks of the river, from 5 am to 5 pm
every day.
The merchandise
sold in each boat is hung on a pole in front of
the boat to attract customers.
Countryside
Market
Many communes in rural Vietnam feature countryside
markets (cho que).
There are two main types of countryside market:
the fair and the evening market. Fairs are held
periodically. For example, it may be held on days
with the numbers three and eight, which would imply
fairs on the 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd and 28th
days of each lunar month. Major markets attract
huge numbers of people.
Apart
from local products, visitors can find industrial
and expensive commodities produced in other localities.
Of course, necessities such as fruit, oil, salt
and vegetables are always available.
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Sapa Discover |
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Bac Ha – A Destination
Bac Ha (Lao Cai) is well-known
for its naturally sub-tropical scenery. Tam Hoa
plums are really a local specialty: sweet and fresh.
This seems to be created by its own land, people
and nature. 
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LaoCai Destination
BacArea: 8,057 sq. km.
Population: 639,300 habitants
(2003)Capital: Lao Cai City.
Districts: Muong Khuong,
Bat Xat, Bac Ha, Bao Thang, Sapa, Bao Yen, Van
Ban, Si Ma Cai.
Ethnic groups: Viet (Kinh), H’Mong, Tay,
Dao,
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Dalat - the city of love
Maybe
it is the flowers that make Dalat such a haven for
lovers. Situated halfway between heaven and earth
on a plateau that separates it from more mortal
places, this honeymooner’s heaven is nestled
amid immense pine forests and rolling hills.
More
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