Cai Rang floating market is different now, Cai Be floating market is gradually 'sinking'

Tourists visit a floating house at Cai Rang floating market that sells souvenirs and experiences making cakes - Photo: CQ

When we arrived at Cai Rang floating market, we noted that the number of merchant boats was only about 100, the rest were small tourist boats with a larger number.

Mr. Ty, the boat driver, said he did not know why the number of visitors to the floating market this summer had decreased significantly compared to previous years.

According to Mr. Ty, during its "golden age", for many years Cai Rang floating market gathered about 600 boats. At that time, tourists could easily see merchants from two boats moored close together to transfer agricultural products (watermelon, pineapple...) from one boat to another.

This scene almost never appears anymore. The boat driver pulled up to a pineapple boat where a merchant was throwing pineapples to customers on a small boat. When asked where the pineapples would be sold, the man on the small boat said he was a hired carrier for small traders from markets on land such as Tan An or Xuan Khanh (about 3-4km from the floating market).

According to the boat driver, if you see a slightly larger boat buying agricultural products, it is a boat from the markets on shore. The smaller boat moored to the boat buying agricultural products is a boat of a small trader buying wholesale agricultural products to transport to sell to people in the canals and ditches of the city. Pointing to a large boat with the letters "VL", he said this boat came from Vinh Long to buy goods and then transport them back to sell.

Mr. Ty explained: because the roads are now so convenient, trucks can go right to the gardens to buy, so the number of boats has decreased. The boats no longer trade with each other to transport to the provinces like before, but here there are only small boats coming to pick up agricultural products to transport to the markets on the shore, or small traders buying in bulk and then transporting them to sell on the canals and ditches. That is the reason why there are fewer and fewer traders in this market and the number of boats has decreased.

The "different" of the floating market is also shown in the fact that now there are more tourism services, no longer "purely" boats with boats of merchants trading and buying and selling with each other. This is easily recognized when along the floating market there are many boats anchored to sell breakfast and many rafts are formed to sell souvenirs.

Stopping by a small pink boat for breakfast, we were told by Mr. Q. - the owner of the QL boat - that his family owns a shop on the shore nearby and that he has been selling by anchoring his boat on the floating market for a few years now. At first, only his boat was painted pink to attract tourists, but later, seeing that business was good, many other boats were painted the same way.

According to Mr. Q., before the embankment was built, more tourists came because they saw a floating market close and natural, but now that the embankment has appeared, it looks more open but tourists are no longer interested. Therefore, he thinks that the number of visitors this year has decreased by about 30% compared to previous years.

The number of service providers like Mr. Q. is increasing. Recently, there are also boats in the floating market that do not wholesale agricultural products but hang two rows of pineapples or other fruits. These are boats for tourists to get on to chat with the boat owner, then enjoy the fruit and watch the floating market.

According to many traders here, the floating market still exists, but it is "another floating market" with more tourist services.

Without merchants, Cai Be floating market gradually "sinks"

Cai Be floating market has only a few boats left - Photo: Mau Truong

Although the People's Committee of Cai Be district (Tien Giang province) previously proposed a project to "Preserve and promote Cai Be floating market" for the period 2017 - 2022 and orientation to 2025, it seems that "the floating market on the river has finished its historical mission", as a leader of this district said a few days ago.

Cai Be Market was formed on the river section from Cai Be River mouth to Cai Be Church junction. According to local people who have lived here for a long time, since 1986, people in the area and neighboring areas have gathered here to exchange and buy and sell local products, gradually turning Cai Be mouth into a market on the river that local residents call Cai Be floating market.

In the early days of its formation, especially in the 1990s, Cai Be floating market was very busy, all day long, every day there were often over 100 boats and ships anchored to buy and sell (on peak days the number increased much more).

There are also many small mobile boats providing food, beverage and daily living products for families living on the river.

The floating market is bustling in the early morning and gradually fades away at noon, but still operates all day. However, with the development of the road system, goods, especially agricultural products, are gradually transported by road and traded on land, so Cai Be floating market gradually has fewer sellers and buyers.

And since 2015, the market has gradually reduced the number of boats and now there are only a few boats left on the river.

To save the situation, Cai Be District People's Committee has proposed a project "Preserving and promoting Cai Be floating market". Accordingly, a series of projects have been deployed around Cai Be floating market to serve the market's traders, such as arranging buoys to ensure waterway traffic safety, installing buoys to limit the anchorage of boats for trading on the river.

In addition, the authorities also installed 15 public lighting poles for traders to operate at night, and built public toilets to serve tourists and traders of the floating market... However, the most important thing to form a floating market is boats for buying and selling, and traders coming and going, but this is lacking.

According to the Department of Culture and Information of Cai Be district, the reason why Cai Be floating market is having difficulty in recovering is because the conditions of road trade have developed, so the number of traders and boats are decreasing. People are no longer interested in buying and selling on the river as before.

Besides, the output of goods bought and sold on the floating market such as cassava, sweet potatoes, tapioca... has decreased compared to before, so it can no longer meet the sightseeing and shopping needs of tourists.

Developing tourism at Nga Bay floating market

Re-enactment of Nga Bay floating market at the Tourism and Investment Promotion Festival in Nga Bay City held at the end of June 2024 - Photo: Trung Pham

Since 2015, Hau Giang Provincial People's Committee has approved the project to preserve and promote Nga Bay floating market associated with river tourism in the garden area to recreate the floating market space on the wharf and under the boat, promoting the development of Nga Bay tourism in the direction of green tourism.

Mr. Le Hoang Xuyen - Chairman of Nga Bay City People's Committee - said that the city invested more than 35 billion VND to build a pier, embankment, and model boats at the Nga Bay floating market restoration site, which has now been completed and put into use. The Nga Bay floating market pier is currently performing its function as a gathering point for tourists visiting Nga Bay.

"Since the beginning of 2023, this location has welcomed and served more than 420 groups of guests with nearly 13,000 tourists," Mr. Xuyen cited and said that there is a plan to build a "business on the river - no tax" model to encourage people to participate in buying and selling.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cho-noi-cai-rang-gio-da-khac-cho-noi-cai-be-chim-dan-20240714084922.htm