Thailand beyond solo backpacking: Cho Binh Tay Market in Cholon Chinatown.

This morning the weather over Ho Chi Minh is still very cloudy with light rainfall.
Took a walk from Pham Ngu Lao Road to Ben Thanh Central Bus Terminal which takes less than 10 minutes.
I need to cross the road here to the other side where buses to Cholon are readily available.
They do have signboard in English. Intercity buses are plentiful and is advisable to use these public transport.
Ho Chi Minh City is too big to walk on foot and also to avoid the chaotic traffic system.
The fares for most intercity destinations irrespective of distance is 4,000 VNDong.

After a 15minutes of comfortable bus journey,the bus stopped at the Ben Xe Khach Cholon terminal.

This terminal is more spacious than Ben Thanh terminal.Over here in Cholon you can find tuk-tuk similar to those in Thailand or Laos.
Around the bus terminal is bustling with lots of morning market activities especially with the local farmers selling their agricultural produce.

As you emerged from the terminal,your first sight is this elegant clock tower building with a beautiful blend of Chinese architecture.

The multi-tiered roofs make it looks like a pagoda and one might think that this a place of worship.
On entering the premise,a big surprise awaits all visitors.
It is swarmed with traders with their stalls and merchandise. Even without the fan and aircondition,the inside of the building is very cooling as the interior layout is circular in design with a central courtyard.
This whole building can be like a palace if it is not a market square.

Located on Thap Moui Street in District 6, Cho Binh Tay Market is situated in a beautiful and elegant building of French-era design.
This is the largest market in Cholon Chinatown with ethnic Viet-Chinese people making a large section of the community.
It is a very systematic market arranged according to sections selling the same type of products.

I've noticed that most of the Cantonese people operates food stall,Teochew people more on medicinal herbs,Hainanese deal with restaurants and coffeshops and Hokkiens in autoparts and hardwares.
It is a very exciting market where one can take a full day to explore the very systematic section of businesses layout in the whole community.

The Cholon central market in offers a wide range of products from food to clothing to daily necessities.

It is also a wholesaler market and a tourist attraction.
CHOLON (" great market"), a town of French Indo-China, the largest commercial centre of Cochin China since colonial era can be regarded as the largest Chinatown in Southeast Asia.
Over here the use of the Non La(coninal hat) is still very popular despite the change of time.
These original more durable and solid hats are made in Chuong Village(a small village, 40 kilometres on the west of central Hanoi).
They are the real, well made high quality hats which has become an inseparable multi-purpose item for Vietnamese women. It is used as a shield to protect them from sun and rain, a glass to get water when they are thirsty, a fan when they are hot, and a basket when they have nothing else with them to carry things.

Rows of shops surrounded the outer part of the building.They prefer to deal in wholesale bulk orders after all its volume that speaks for the turnover of business.

Chinese owned businesses controlled nearly a large section of the economy here.
Vietnam's major produce includes paddy rice, coffee, rubber, cotton, tea, pepper, soybeans, cashews, sugar cane, peanuts, bananas, poultry, fish and seafood.
Prices over here is quite cheap and reasonable.This make it a great place for foreigners to source for Vietnamese products.

The atmosphere inside the market is rather very busy with the non-stop movement of goods and people.
It might look rather cramp with the narrow alleys but the various kinds of merchandise offered might give you the temptation to buy if one is in that particular kind of business.
A row of food stalls is just beside here but with limited seating capacity.I had a bowl of 'Pho' noodles for 30,000 dong cheaper than in District 1 area.

From the main entrance,a staircase leads to the upper floor which is surrounded with shops selling garments,bags,shoes and other accessories.
For the ladies,don't leave home without buying the Vietnamese áo bà ba costume as souvenir.
It simply consists of a pair of silk pants and a long-sleeved, button-down silk shirt.
The shirt will be somewhat long and split at the sides of the waist, forming two flaps.
In the front of the shirt at the very bottom are typically two pockets. The fashionable costume comes in various colors,design and embroidery.
The ao dai (áo dài) is a Vietnamese national outfit. "Ao Dai" is significant to Vietnamese women because it displays grace, beauty, and elegance.
The occasions in which the "Ao Dai" is worn signifies the importance of the event.

The centre court of Binh Tay market has lush greeneries with marble seats to rest your aching legs after a whole morning of non-stop walking.

There is a statue monument with an altar in memory of the icon of Binh Tay market.
Surrounded by four bronze dragons spitting water into the fountain,two bronze lions stood guard within the perimeter.

Binh Tay Market was built with a lot of investment from a Chinese businessman called Quach Dam (1863-1927).
He was also know as Thong Hiep and was thus given the nickname of "Handicapped Thong" by the local Chinese.
He started his fortune collecting recycling garbage.
His hard working and good calculation and trading thus made him a rich man.
His statue is currently being kept and reversed at HCMC fine arts museum.

Can you imagine there are 2,358 stalls in Binh Tay market.
The market heart area has 1446 stalls including 698 stalls in the ground floor and 748 stalls in the storey.
The external area of the market heart has 912 stalls including 408 stalls in Tran Binh area, 328 stalls in Le Tan Ke area, 176 stalls in Phan Van Khoe area.
Store selling cashew nuts(hat dieu),soya bean(đậu tương ),mushroom(nấm)