The strange village market in An Giang, with boats and docks, is bustling all year round and sells only straight bamboo.

Traders' boats carrying bamboo trees are preparing to leave the Tam Vong market in Luong Phi commune, Tri Ton district, An Giang province.

The market for buying and selling bamboo in Bay Nui area, Luong Phi commune, Tri Ton district (An Giang province) has no signboard.

At dawn, the weather in Bay Nui was still sleeping, and traders were rushing to buy bamboo. For a long time, this “unique” market has been bustling with bargaining and laughter between traders and gardeners.

Walking down to the canal, a series of red-nosed sampans were waiting to transport bamboo shoots. Sitting on the dike, Chau Soc quickly ate a package of sticky rice and sugar to fill his stomach, preparing to carry bamboo shoots down to the boat for the merchants.

Although the bamboo market has no signboard, traders from all over flock here. I met Mr. Hau (45 years old, from Soc Trang province) carefully selecting and classifying each bamboo tree, then loading it onto the boat to leave the dock in the late afternoon.

Up to now, Mr. Hau has been involved in the bamboo trading business for nearly 20 years. In the past, he was a famous trader of water coconut leaves for roofing throughout the West. Later, when the water coconut leaf business was sluggish, Mr. Hau switched to the bamboo trading business until now.

“My father used to go by boat to count coconut leaves and sell them to Kien Giang and Dong Thap provinces, then to the Bay Nui region to sell them to people for roofing. As life became more and more developed, the demand for roofing leaves was no longer as strong as before, and many traders retired. Keeping up with the demand of people in the lower regions for bamboo trees for household use, I switched to the bamboo trading profession in the Bay Nui region,” Mr. Hau explained.

Ben Xa Canal Market (Luong Phi Commune, Tri Ton District, An Giang Province) only buys and sells one single item in the region, which is the bamboo plant. The bamboo plant (tre tam vong) is a type of bamboo plant commonly known as Thai bamboo or Siamese bamboo, grown widely in Southeast Asia, including An Giang Province and some provinces in the Southeast region of Vietnam.

Solving employment on the spot

The soil in the Seven Mountains region is harsh, enduring six months of continuous sunshine. The mornings are very cool, and everyone breathes in the fresh air. But when the sun is at its peak, the sky is sunny and dry, making it very uncomfortable. During this season, the mountain slopes are arid, and many trees shed their leaves due to lack of water.

However, the bamboo tree adapts to the sandy mountain land, grows well, and requires little care. Thanks to that, people have applied the model of planting bamboo trees anywhere on the mountain land. Passing Bung Ong Dia, then to O Ta Soc, everywhere you can see bamboo forests stretching out, looking like scenes from ancient movies.

Stopping at the foot of Ma Thien Lanh hill, we met people harvesting bamboo to sell to traders. In the hot midday sun, we continued along the asphalt road straight to Ba Chuc town (Tri Ton district, An Giang province).

At the foot of Dai and Tuong mountains, people grow bamboo around their houses to earn extra income. Occasionally, you can see tractors carrying bamboo to the market to sell.

The process of "roasting" the bamboo tree over charcoal fire to straighten the tree trunk.

Bamboo is not only a source of income for the Bay Nui gardeners but also provides jobs for the majority of idle Khmer workers in the area, with jobs such as cutting, bending, transporting, and carrying bamboo down to the boat.

Mr. Chau Soc specializes in bending bamboo, every day he "burns" more than 900 bamboo trees, earning 450,000 VND, with enough money to cover expenses during Tet.

Mr. Chau Khuon in Luong Phi commune (Tri Ton district) said that every day at this bamboo market, there are more than 20 laborers who are Khmer ethnic minorities carrying bamboo for hire.

Workers loading bamboo onto boats receive 500 VND/tree, each person earns an average of 400,000 - 500,000 VND/day. Bamboo trading activities last for 10 months, creating jobs for a large number of local workers.

Downstream trade

From Luong Phi commune to Ba Chuc town, on both sides of the road, there are many large bamboo fields operating at full capacity to meet the year-end shipments. Each warehouse consumes over 30,000 bamboo trees. Many workers are working hard in the furnace under the sun to bend the bamboo.

The owner of the warehouse will pay 500 VND for straightening the bamboo trees. On average, a person can bend 1,000 bamboo trees per day, earning nearly 500,000 VND.

Mr. Duoc (the owner of the bamboo warehouse) said that this season, people in Dai mountain are harvesting bamboo. Every day, Mr. Duoc's warehouse buys over 3,000 bamboo trees, straightens them, and then transports them to the market to sell.

The bamboo market in Ben Xa canal is full of traders from the lower regions who come to collect bamboo. Bamboo grows in harsh areas so its trunk is very strong and flexible.

Once bent, bamboo can be used to make many items, such as: poles, stairs, columns, rafters... very effectively.

A forest of bamboo trees in the Bay Nui area, Tri Ton district, An Giang province.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang (43 years old, from Bac Lieu province), who has been trading in bamboo for 20 years, believes that the best bamboo trees are from the Dai mountain slopes. People in the lower regions really like bamboo trees here to use for camping, stakes, and roadside shrimp farming... Because bamboo trees from the Bay Nui area are of very good quality and are less susceptible to termites.

Ms. Trang recalls that in the past, Ben Xa canal only had a few red-nosed boats from the lower regions coming up to buy bamboo. Gradually, there were dozens of boats, and this place gradually formed a bamboo market.

Pointing to her eldest son who has just turned 20, Ms. Trang confided: “As old as my eldest son is, my husband and I have been trading bamboo. On each trip, my boat carries over 9,000 bamboo trees of all kinds.

Good quality bamboo costs 15,000 VND/tree, smaller ones 10,000 VND/tree, the smallest ones 5,000 VND/tree. When transporting to sell to warehouses in the lower regions, we earn 5-6 million VND/trip, a fairly stable income.

For a long time, the Dai Mountain area has been considered the “capital” of the land growing bamboo. Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of the People’s Committee of Luong Phi Commune, Tri Ton District (An Giang Province) - Tran Thanh Liem said that the locality has more than 100 households growing bamboo, with an area of ​​about 80 hectares. In recent years, thanks to bamboo, many people have escaped poverty, including the Khmer ethnic minority.

The bamboo tree has become an endemic tree species with high economic value in the Bay Nui area of ​​An Giang province. Many traders flocked to the Ben Xa canal, forming the unique bamboo market in the West.

Source: https://danviet.vn/cho-lang-la-lung-o-an-giang-tren-ben-duoi-thuyen-tap-nap-ca-nam-chi-ban-cay-tam-vong-thang-tuot-20240703143044997.htm