Surrounded by the old apartments, created first by just a small group of flower vendors, then expanded with the arrival of immigrants from various regions of Vietnam making their sales from flowers, Ho Thi Ky became a big area with a diversity of goods, most of which are flowers. Most flower markets in HCMC open only over the Tết Holiday in Spring, but this Ho Thi Ky market opens at all time, 24/7. Whether night or day, you will find such vivid atmosphere here, where colorful flowers are seen along the sideways that emerge with the pace of daily life of the locals. 

All kinds of flowers in the South are brought here and get delivered to all parts of Saigon for sales.

Finished with the flowers? Since it’s a market, there are lots of food stalls, too. You won’t be disappointed with the world of cheap street food here, from 1$ Vietnamese soup dishes, 25-cent Cantonese chive cakes to the 1$ Pad Thai! Lots of food offers for you.

Words and photos by Khoi Nguyen

The post An Insider’s Photos at Ho Thi Ky – The Saigon Flower Market appeared first on Maze Vietnam.

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Dong Xuan market

Established since Nguyen dynasty, Dong Xuan is known as one of the oldest markets in Hanoi. Therefore, tourists normally visit here to peep into the corridors of history rather than for shopping purpose. This market is quite large with hundreds of small shops along its narrow idles, which enables it to serve different needs of customers from clothes, toys, household utilizes to traditional silk. Moreover, we recommend you visit Dong Xuan market with an empty stomach or else you will miss the chance to taste much typical and appetizing food of Hanoi such as bun cha, sweet tea, pho, etc.

Address: at the end of Hang Dao- Hang Ngang- Hang Giay Street
Opening hours: 7am- 6pm

Long Bien wholesale market

Long Bien wholesale market used to rank in top five most interesting markets in South East Asia by Gobackpacking magazine. As the largest wholesale market in Hanoi, notwithstanding hot or cold, rain or dry weather, we can never see a day-off at this place. Different from others, Long Bien market ignites its lively atmosphere from 11 pm until dawn, when traders start to move to another part of the city. Products sold in this area are the most divergent in Hanoi as they are imported from plenty of different places like the Hanoi suburb, the South or even China.

Address: Hồng Hà, Phúc Xá, Ba Đình

Quang Ba flower market

If you are a nocturnal person then this suggestion would match you perfectly. As one of the most famous night markets, not only does Quang Ba flower market provide fresh flowers for the whole city but it also represents a cultural charm of Hanoi at night. The market looks like a huge flower garden with various kinds such as rose, orchid, daisy and even some rare ones that you might never know before. Opening all year but if you want to visit this place, you have to wait until midnight; however, not until 2-3am does the market truly exposes its characteristic- vibrant, gorgeous and appealing with full of buyers. To be able to find the best flower, you should carry along a flashlight.

Address: Quang Ba flower market, Âu Cơ, thôn Bắc, Nhật Tân

Hom market

Beside Dong Xuan, Hom market has also been constructed for an excessively long time. Compared to the small size in the part, now Hom market has the capability to satisfy any housewives from clothes, silks, and bags to dry food, sweets, fresh food, spices, and especially seafood, which is carefully selected to guarantee the quality standard. Not only inside but outside the gate, there is a variety of street vendors that you can buy stuff for your family without entering the gate. Nevertheless, if you are not used to purchasing things in Hom market, you should be active in bargaining, particularly clothes or else you will lose money for nothing.

Address: Phố Huế, Ngô Thì Nhậm

Hang Be market

Through hundred years, Hang Be has been an indispensable part of Vietnam capital. For an authentic Hanoian, Hang Be market is a place for socializing, a cultural space of people in the old quarters. Moreover, thanks to its location, people usually feel that food here holds better taste than other places, which maybe is just a subjective perspective and no longer correct but it has deepened into Hanoi people’s mind. After centuries, Hang Be still remains the same discipline as the old days. Every morning, small shops are held up and when the sun disappears, everyone collects their stuff and comes home. Each one has their own space that has been decided together in advance that never in this market could we observe an infringement case between vendors for a trading area.

Address: Hàng Bè, quận Hoàn Kiếm

Buoi market

Located at the intersection of Hoang Hoa Tham and Buoi street, Buoi market is well- known for its distinctive products – plants and pets. Although through times, the simplicity and ease of this market have diminished somehow, it still remains as one of the oldest market fairs that exists until today in the middle of Hanoi. At present, this place has been elevated to become a modern shopping mall with a variety of products. However, to maintain and hold the antique beauty of the old Buoi, behind the shopping mall, there comes a small piece of land to trade seedling and pets.

Address: 743 Hoàng Hoa Thám, Vĩnh Phúc, Ba Đình

Green house market

Among all the markets we have told you until now, this is the youngest one, a market for students – Green house market. Located close to lots of schools and universities in the area, the market is always filled up with lots of students from dawn till dusk so even you are busy with your work, you can visit this place anytime as it opens all day. To suit different tastes of students, products here are divergent and easy to buy, nonetheless, be careful with low- quality or error ones. People are often overwhelmed by the heterogeneity of things to choose.

Address: Phan Văn Trường, Khu tập thể Đại học Sư phạm, Dịch Vọng Hậu, Cầu Giấy

Nghia Tan market

One more market youngster is Nghia Tan Market, one of the most prominent and favorable cuisine center in Hanoi. At this place, you would feel like being lost in a paradise of food with a sensible price. The special thing here is that each season you visit, it would give you completely brand new flavor. For instance, in summer, you will have the chance to taste many kinds of fresh and cool beverages such as tao pho, Sai Gon sweet tea, cold drinks and fresh fruit. Especially, a distinctive dish of Nghia Tan market that you should not overlook is Vietnamese bread serve on a frying pan, which definitely brings you an unforgettable memory. we suggest you should pass by this appetizing market during the noon to midnight as not until then does this place really emerges into its regular hectic style with lots of attractive food.

Address: 2 Nghĩa Tân, Khu tập thể Nghĩa Tân, Nghĩa Tân

Hanoi flea market (Hoa Binh market)

Existed for more than half century, this is the oldest flea market in Hanoi comprising lots of mysterious and strange goods that you can never find anywhere else. As a result of the subsidy period, for official goods, you have to purchase coupons or stamps in advance or else for non- official or even stolen things, these will be sold outside on the pavements or temporary shops. If this is the first time you have ever been here, you will easily get lost as this market is designed as a maze with hundreds of tiny shops selling nearly everything on Earth, especially for rare goods such as antiquated things, you just need to ask the seller beforehand and they will able to get it for you.

Address: 33 Thịnh Yên, Phố Huế

Banana market on Red Riverbank

Talking about float markets, everyone will definitely think about the famous Cai Rang in Can Tho or some others in Cuu Long province. However, right in the center of Hanoi, next to the gorgeous Red River, on Ham Tu Quan street, hardly does anyone, even Hanoi people, know about the existence of a floating market selling a typical fruit of our tropical country- bananas. This market is one of the largest banana suppliers for Hanoi, with many boats, weighted up to tons and full of bananas arriving every day. Although selling bananas is not a tranquil job at all, scarcely could you find a man but only women.

Address: Ham Tu Quan street, at the south part of Chuong Duong bridge
How to get there: when you arrive at Ham Tu Quan street, you have to pass by a restaurant’s parking area to reach the destination

The post The Top 10 Best Local Markets in Hanoi appeared first on Maze Vietnam.

Nhat Tao street is usually called  ‘the electronics market’ by  the Saigoneers. It is actually the biggest secondhand electronic devices market in Saigon. All of the small electronics shops and vendors selling goods appear on the both sides of the street. 

You can find secondhand items such as camera lenses, zippos, adapters, television remotes and so on.

Lots of electronic items are piled up in on the ground. The street is always crowded with people coming up and bargaining every day.

There is a Thống Nhất soccer stadium nearby, also there are some small street food stalls around for you to boost up your energy after a tiring day of going to the busy street.

To see more photos, check the open album below or go to Flickr:
Photo Album Flickr
(Please use the left/right arrows to navigate in the files of the open album)

Photos and words by Khoi Nguyen

The post Nhat Tao Electronics Market in Saigon appeared first on Maze Vietnam.

Markets are something indispensable in the capital’s daily life but their stories behind are frequently omitted. As I swept through some websites, what I found was far more than what I had expected. There are some sources referred to the first existence of markets in Thăng Long (former name of Hanoi) in the 15th century. However, according to other researchers, those markets first appeared in the 11th century under the permission of Lý Thái Tổ Emperor. In the late 19th century when French colonialists invaded Hà Nội, these markets were one by one professionally commercialized with a wide range of products including some imported from Europe, India and Hong Kong with products like soap and perfume.  Nowadays, if you take a look around the city, you can definitely see numerous markets including the biggest such as Hôm, Đồng Xuân, Bưởi to smaller ones such as Bách Khoa, Thành Công, Trại Cá and other retailers along the railways, rivers or apartments.

What I find interesting about these retailers is that as long as they have goods, a wooden folding table, a conical hat and a few of other sellers, then they can turn the whole place into a spontaneous market. For the bigger ones, what you can find is uncountable, from accessories, garments, shoes to vegetables, fruits, poultry, cattle or even food stalls serving phở, crab soup noodles (bún riêu cua), beef soup noodles (bún riêu bò), fermented rice sheets (bánh cuốn), sticky rice cakes and so on. Trust me, that kind of food you can find in those local markets is the best.

To sum up, markets in Hà Nội have seemed to be a traditional beauty of the capital, and I just cannot even imagine when local markets are totally replaced by shopping malls only. That makes me ponder!

Here are some photos taken by our contributor Duc Vu in a typical local market in Hanoi.

To see more photos, check the open album below or go to Flickr: Photo Album Flickr (Please use the left/right arrows to navigate in the files of the open album)

All Photos taken by Duc Vu
Words by Trang Nguyen

The post Local Markets in Hanoi appeared first on Maze Vietnam.