Colors of Can Cau market
In the market fairs held in Lao Cai, Can Cau market still retains the traditional cultural features of hundreds of years of the Mong Hoa, Black Dao, Tay, Nung and Giay people. The market meets on the side of Road No 153, the road connecting Bac Ha town with the border town of Si Ma Cai.The market space is divided into many areas, for all kinds of goods but mainly vegetables, herbs, spices, household utensils and colorful brocade products. Each area has its own unique character. The most prominent is still the brocade sale area.
Brocade colors at Can Cau fair market.
The first image encountered at the market fair is the women, girls, and sisters wearing colorful dresses. Each ethnic group has its own color, so the brocade at Can Cau market is both unique and brilliant. The most interesting thing is to immerse themselve in that space, watching young Mong, Giay, and Dao girls try on colorful brocade dresses, delicately embroidered lines, and then the flustered mood of the children bought by their mothers for their new shirts and dresses. The tinkling, sparkling of the jewelry rings on the ears, necks, and hands of the mountainous girls make the brocade color come alive. Lost in this area, tourists can see directly the intricate embroidery and decoration to every detail on the brocade dresses and shirts of the Mong ethnic girls. There are handmade dresses that take a whole year to complete, so it is not unusual for the price to be up to millions of dong. Besides the dress, there are also embroidered threads of all colors, accessories such as decorative beads on the dress are very rich, all kinds of rings, bracelets, and earrings are delicately and beautifully carved.
The most impressive of Can Cau market fair is the agricultural products of the highland people brought to the market. Everything is bright and colorful. There is the bright red color of the bunches of chili peppers grown by the Mong Hoa on the high mountains, the purple color of the eggplant clusters, the green color of the upland radish, the mountain melon,... Products such as fragrance, shovel seeds, palanquin, pig stealing armpits, black chicken… are all delicious and clean items of local residents. The way to sell goods of the people here is interesting: they don't weigh, but set price in bunches, bundles,.... Most of the items sold at the market are self-produced by the people such as vegetables, tubers, fruits, etc. meat, chicken, geese, duck. In addition, the people also sell necessary household items and serve daily work.
Can Cau buffalo market attracts sellers and buyers from many localities inside and outside the province.
The most unique is the area selling livestock and poultry at Can Cau fair market. Can Cau buffalo market has become a feature in this mountainous region. Although not as noisy and bustling as in the above market, the buffalo market has its own excitement. People come to sell, people come to buy, even curious residents and tourists also come to see the bustle. They gather in groups around the buffaloes to admire, comment, and exchange with each other. The buffalos are big, strong, muscular, with a glossy black body, fierce appearance, standing still, with sharp warped horns. For farmers, buffalo is a great fortune. However, the trading is mainly based on the style of "buying and selling" and completely oral exchanging, choosing to sell prices based on experience.
The closer to noon, the more crowded Can Cau buffalo market is. The land above has been full of hundreds of buffaloes. Here, buffaloes are bought to serve plowing, breeding, butchering, or are bought by buffalo traders for fattening and then sell on other fairs. Can Cau market not only attracts traders who bring buffaloes from the high mountains to the delta, but also attracts tourists, especially foreigners.
Even coming to Can Cau fair market for one time, you will feel the cultural features imbued with the identity of the highland people, feel the humanity through warm exchanges and forever remember the market atmosphere in the highlands./.