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| Tua Chua nigh market, which is open every Saturday, is not only a venue to showcase agricultural products and local culture, but also a destination for tourists. (Photo: VNA) |
Every Saturday, as darkness falls, people from highland villages of Tua Chua district, the northwestern province of Dien Bien, flock to the night market.
The hustle and bustle of the market forms a unique scene in Tua Chua, a highland district in the northeast of Dien Bien. The district is home to seven ethnic groups, of which the Mong people make up the majority.
The market, which is open through the night from 8pm on Saturday to 6am the following day, is not only a venue to showcase agricultural products and local culture, but also a destination for tourists.
A special thing, local businesses here only sell their goods online by live streaming. Items for sale are mainly local agricultural products, wild orchids and herbs. Each seller uses four to eight smart phones. All phones are connected to the internet and hundreds of items being sold every night.
Dang Thanh Huyen, a live streamer at the market, said that she has started selling online since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
Selling goods through live streaming help her reach customers nationwide, she noted.
Visitors to the market also immerse themselves in the unique cultural space of local ethnic groups.
In addition to enjoying art performance staged by local residents and students, they can taste local dishes such as thang co (horse meat and offal) and drink Mong Pe, an aromatic wine distilled from maize fermented with special forest leaves.
Pham Hong Long, a tourist from Hanoi, said that he has traveled to many night markets in the northern provinces. However, he was still very excited when visiting the Tua Chua night market for the first time.
Utilising live streaming to sell products not only helps boost sales for local residents but also offers an opportunity to popularise the image of Tua Chua to domestic and foreign tourists, he added.
Nguyen Minh Tuan, Vice Chairman of the district People's Committee, said that despite being put into operation for just one year and a half, the Tua Chua night market has become an attractive destination and a unique tourism product of the locality.
He went on to say that the number of visitors to the market increases every week, demonstrating its growing allure to tourists.
Tua Chua aims to become a national tourism site under the province’s tourism development plan until 2025, with a vision towards 2030. It expects to host over 40,000 visitors, with about 10% being foreigners, by 2030.
Along with natural landscapes such as rocky plateaus, caves and ethnic cultures, local authorities have paid attention to turning the Tua Chua night market into a special tourism product, contributing to making tourism a key economic sector for socio-economic development of Tua Chua district in particular and Dien Bien in general./.