Your Vietnam

Travelers, nowadays, tend to travel to the border province of Lang Son on weekends to do shopping. Dong Kinh, Dong Dang and now Tan Thanh markets have become well-known addresses for shoppers from Hanoi and other provinces. 

Dong Kinh of previous day, Tan Thanh nowadays

 
 

I met Thanh, who was once the tour guide for Vietnamese tourists to China, again in Long Son. Thanh said that he is now the distribution agent for water basins in Lang Son. When I told him that I traveled to Lang Son to learn about the shopping tours there, Thanh said: “Dong Kinh is the market of the previous days. You need to go to Tan Thanh market to see the bustling atmosphere of two years ago.” 

I had to spend VND 15,000 more to take a mini-bus, which then took 30 minutes get to Tan Thanh market. 

Tan Thanh is now very bustling, with several trade centers, each with 3-4 floors, which are full of commodities. The Huu Nghi market area has nearly 1,000 stalls, many of which are located right on the pavement to catch the eyes of buyers. 

At a stall owned by two girls from Bac Giang province, a lot of commodities were seen on sale, from fine arts and blankets to electronics and electric generators. 

One of the two girls tried to persuade me to purchase a 3kw electricity generator at VND 2.8 million, saying that the product is selling for no less than VND 5 million in Hanoi. 

Huong, the girl, said that she and her sister injected VND 100 million into the stall, which has been open for the last three years. She said that business has been going well. There are many traders, like Huong, in the market, but there are even more buyers. 

The parking lot of the Huu Nghi Market begins by welcoming the first buses, which take travelers there to do some shopping. It is really difficult to miss the stalls with colorful commodities and refuse the insistent offers to purchase commodities from sellers. 

There is a wide range of commodities available for sale here, from blankets, clothes, consumer products, and cheap electronics. Hoa, the owner of a clothes shop in Huu Nghi market said that travelers always come there on weekends. Women always like purchasing bedding, while men are attracted by electronics and mobile phones. 

At the Vietnam-China Trade Centre, two men with southern accents told me that they were surprised about the I-phone which was sold for only VND 2 million. Finally, the dirt cheap price of the product could persuade the two buyers spend money. 

At the next stall, the owner tried to introduce to the visitors a tiny DVD player, which he said could use three disks at the same time. The DVD player has a surprisingly low price, VND 200,000. 

When I went up to the second floor, I saw a delegation of travelers from Hung Yen province who gathered at a stall, where the owner introduced a carpet at VND 80,000 and thick wooden blanket at VND 300,000. 

I did not stay to witness the bargaining of the buyers, but I later saw the female visitors carrying a lot of carpets, sedge mat, wooden blankets and cookers to the buses to be carried to Hanoi. 

Attracting travelers with cheap products 

Thanh said that Tan Thanh market is now in no way inferior to the Mong Cai border market in Quang Ninh province, while it is very attractive to travelers as they can go there and return home within day. 

Travelers can take any early coach to Lang Son province and then take the bus to Tan Thanh province. If they go in delegation, they have to spend VND 1.6 million each for an 18-seat coach. Departing from Hanoi at 6:00 am, they will arrive in Tan Thanh at 9:00 am and have the whole day to do shopping. 

They can enjoy lunch in the Tan Thanh area, having lunch at Chinese restaurants, and if they want, they can cross the border gate to visit China, which does not take much time for procedures. If they do not want to cross the border, they can go back to Lang Son province to have lunch with Lang Son’s specialties, and they can drop by Dong Kinh market to do more shopping in the afternoon. If they can arrange time, they can be in Hanoi prior to 6:00 pm. 

The first delegation we met in Tan Thanh at 8:00 am came from Vinh Phuc province. And we met them again at lunch time in the parking lot next to the Vietnam-China Trade Centre. All of them purchased a lot of commodities, put in big carton boxes and were pleased with the purchases. 

Hung, the young man managing the parking lot, said that all buses leave the market full of commodities. It is simply because the commodities here are diversified, profuse, and very cheap. Some people said they did not plan to make big purchases when traveling here, but then they changed their mind at seeing too many commodities with low prices. 

However, Hung said that buyers need to learn how to bargain, otherwise, they will have to buy products at the prices even higher than in Hanoi. If the seller ask VND 600,000 for a jacket, the buyer can buy it at VND 200,000 only.

 
 

Phuoc Ha