Portrait of a Market

Portrait of a market.
By Aly Abaquin

A visit to Ho Chi Ming City’s Cholon Market is an attractive site for tourist and locals as well. This is Vietnam’s Chinatown market. .

Cholon is located at Tran Hung Dao street, district 5 HCMC, and also called with a different name: Binh Tay Market.

The lively atmosphere welcomes each patron as you enter this majestic Chinese structures dictates decades of history from seeing sea farers & traders from a by gone era and now a multitude of entrepreneurial people stays and trade their wares.

It remains home to more than 500,000 people, many of whom are of Chinese origin.

The area and its side-streets and markets provide an interesting glimpse of the Vietnamese Chinese and their cultural traditions and language.

Less touristy but meeting the locals in this side of town is more fun, colorful and vibrant.

Inside the center of the market is an altar commemorating the founder Thong Hiep surrounded by the four bronze lions, four bronze dragons spitting water into a fountain.

The smell of incense is evidently in the atmosphere as the afternoon breeze lifts it in the air.

The market is easy to understand as the stalls are categorize by the products being sold.

Fruit Section, bags, hats, textile, house wares, accessories, toys, candies, nuts, fish,meat, cigarette, beer, clothes sections.

It seems to go on and on crammed with every possible kind of product that you can possibly be needing.

Every type of silk, textile whatever print, plain in every color from twill, wool to cotton. is omnipresent in the stalls. As you would be dizzy enough to handle the bargaining as well as the yards and yards of it. Fabric shopping in Ho Chi Minh City is a serious treat.

Friendly bargaining skills is needed and don’t be bothered as the traders will give you 20%- 40% discounts. And a hand shake to close that precious silk that you wanted so badly.

The variety of goods are astounding and give us a glimpse into the modern Vietnamese life.

Bursting with unique, high quality selections of artisan and ethnic products and freshly-made prepared foods, you’re sure to enjoy shopping the independent merchants of the Cholon Public Market.

Whatever your taste or craving – this Public Market has something to satisfy your appetite!

The sweets are in a colorful array of glassed menagerie: candied spices, candied tamarind, candie ginger candied everything as mouthful of sweets to give you a sugar rush.

The Temples should be visited in additions to the traditional apothecaries, fortune tellers and some excellent Chinese food that is available in Cho Lon.

Hence giving you a full understanding of a living market. The portraiture is realistic and not surreal.