Dien Bien: Unique highland night market of Mong people in Tua Chua

To preserve and promote the traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic groups, Tua Chua district invested in and developed Tua Chua town night market into a unique tourism product because it only sells through livestream.

Livestreaming sales at Tua Chua night market. (Photo: Xuan Tu/VNA)

Tua Chua is a mountainous district located in the Northeast of Dien Bien province with 7 ethnic groups living together; of which, the Mong ethnic group is the majority.

To preserve and promote the traditional cultural values ​​of ethnic groups in the area, the district has invested in and developed Tua Chua town night market into a unique tourism product.

The night market is not only a place to introduce and promote agricultural products as well as unique local culture, but also becomes an interesting destination on the journey of discovery and experience of tourists when coming to the locality.

Every Saturday, when the sun gradually sets behind the mountains, ethnic minorities from all the highland villages of Tua Chua district flock to the town's night market. The scene of the highland town becomes more bustling and crowded with the activities of the night market.

The unique feature of Tua Chua night market is that the stalls only sell via livestream. The items sold are mainly local agricultural products, mountain products such as orchids, herbs... brought to the market by Mong people from all over the highland villages.

Each seller uses 4-8 smartphones. All phones are connected to the internet and continuously livestream sales with hundreds of items being closed every night.

Ms. Dang Thanh Huyen (one of the experienced online sellers at Tua Chua night market) said that she started selling online since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2019. From that time, she and her husband started livestreaming to sell products on social networks with Northwestern specialties such as honey, dried bamboo shoots, and wild orchids. When Tua Chua night market opened, she opened a booth here to livestream sales.

She buys goods from local people and sells them online to customers from all over the country watching the livestream. Coming to Tua Chua night market, in addition to the bustling scene with livestream stalls, visitors can also immerse themselves in the cultural space with special art programs performed by mass art troupes in the district.

Tua Chua night market is held every Saturday evening. (Photo: Xuan Tu/VNA)

To make the market more exciting, every week, communes, towns and schools in the area will take turns coming up with ideas, practicing and performing an art program with unique features of Tua Chua land. These include the sounds of the panpipes of the Mong ethnic group, the xoe dance of the Thai ethnic group... All of these create a bustling atmosphere, attracting tourists to visit and experience.

In addition, when coming to the night market, visitors can also experience the highland cuisine with dishes such as thang co, mountain goat, Mong Pe wine, etc. The food stalls always attract locals and tourists to enjoy every weekend evening. Many visitors to the night market for the first time are eager and excited to immerse themselves in the bustling atmosphere of the mountain town, enjoy the highland specialties or shop for famous products of Tua Chua.

Mr. Pham Hong Long (a tourist from Hanoi) shared that he had been to many night markets in the northern provinces. However, when he first came to Tua Chua night market, he was very surprised. Here, there are many agricultural products, mountain and forest products; especially orchids. Notably, the stalls mainly use smartphones to sell goods in a very unique form of livestream. Thereby, it not only helps to consume products for local people but also introduces and promotes the image of Tua Chua to tourists nationwide, even abroad.

Tua Chua Night Market officially opened in October 2022, meeting every Saturday evening. Up to now, the night market is not only a place for people to introduce and promote local products but also contributes to bringing the unique culture of ethnic minorities in the highlands to tourists.

Mr. Nguyen Minh Tuan, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Tua Chua district, said that although it was newly established and put into operation not long ago, Tua Chua night market has truly become an attractive destination, a unique local tourism product. The number of visitors to the market increases every week, showing the increasing appeal and attraction of the night market to tourists.

During the exploitation process, the district has made improvements to attract more and more tourists to experience. In particular, the locality assigned communes to take turns coming up with ideas and organizing unique art performances, imbued with the cultural identity of the ethnic groups in the highlands.

Tua Chua is planned by Dien Bien province to basically become a national tourist area by 2030. In addition to the advantages of natural landscapes such as stone plateaus, caves, ethnic cultures, the night market is also one of the highlights that the local government has been gradually building to become a unique tourism product. Thereby, contributing to making tourism a key economic sector to develop the socio-economy of Tua Chua district in particular and Dien Bien in general./.

Spring

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/dien-bien-doc-dao-cho-dem-vung-cao-cua-nguoi-mong-o-tua-chua-post963649.vnp