Located in Yen Thai Village, Buoi Ward, Tay Ho District, an area once famous for traditional crafts such as papermaking, silk weaving, malt cooking, mulberry growing, etc, the Buoi Market is one of a few markets in Hanoi retaining its tradition of special market days on the auspicious 4th and 9th days of each lunar month.
It was once the place where people from different craft villages gathered and exchanged their goods.
As
described in ancient documents, the Buoi Market consisted of 15 stalls
selling different kinds of paper made by villagers in the Ke Buoi area,
including tissue paper from Yen Thai Village, inferior tissue paper
from Ho Khau Village, litmus paper from Dong Xa Village and xe paper
from Yen Hoa Village.
Also, many kinds of farming tools, such
as ploughs, hoes, spades, etc., were also sold at the market to serve
farmers in neighbouring areas. Other products, such as An Phu malt,
Xuan Dinh confectionary,
Vong green rice flakes, were available in the market.
Store
owners from Hanoi often go to the market to buy products to resell in
their shops. Candy made in Lu Village is a popular item. Children of
all ages enjoy the tasty keo bot (flour candy), keo vung (sesame
candy), keo lac (peanut candy), popcorn and rice crisps sold by an
elderly lady with black teeth and wearing a triangular kerchief on her
head.
Other goods can be found at the market, such as shrimp
and fish from the Red River and West Lake, vegetables from many
villages nearby the To Lich and Nhue Rivers and specialities from other
parts of the country.
Probably the most sought after items on sale at the market are various kinds of fruit trees, flowers and ornamental
Plants from famous villages around the West Lake , like Yen Phu, Nghi Tam, Quang Ba, Nhat Tan, Tay Tuu and Phu Thuong.
On
auspicious days, the number of seedlings is tenfold that of regular
days. Therefore, one can find any seedling of beautiful flowers, such
as rose, lily, climbing rose, jasmine, hibiscus, etc, fruit trees such
as
Xuan Dinh sapodilla, Canh orange, Dien grapefruit or even shade trees.
With its typical features, Buoi Maket is, indeed, an interesting place attracting a lot of Hanoians.
