Unique areca market, only opens for one hour at night

Buy a flashlight to go shopping

After finishing dinner, Mr. Tran Van Thau, an areca nut seller in Chinh My commune, Thuy Nguyen district, Hai Phong city, hurriedly stood up to find a flashlight to go to the areca nut market in Dong Lua village, Quang Thanh commune, Thuy Nguyen district.

Areca nut traders at the unique market that only meets for 1 hour/day.

Giving the reporter a lamp, Mr. Thau explained: “To buy a beautiful areca, you have to use the lamp, because you only have to go around the market once, if you can’t choose an areca, you have to wait until the next day. There are many areca but they are very popular, traders from other provinces come to buy them very quickly, because the areca clusters have been carefully selected.”

According to Mr. Thau, the areca market in Quang Thanh commune is held from mid-September of the previous year to May of the following year, because the main areca crop also begins at this time. And no one knows when it started, but the night areca market only opens from 8-9pm every day. The market only sells one product, the most beautiful areca bunches picked from gardens in Thuy Nguyen district.

However, the areca market attracts many traders from the provinces of Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, Quang Ninh, Hai Duong , Hung Yen and Hanoi to buy.

Quang Thanh residents said that the areca market here is considered the largest wholesale market specializing in purchasing and trading areca in the North. Previously, the market was also known as Morning Market, located on both sides of Highway 352. Vendors displayed their goods right on the road, causing traffic insecurity because the above road section had no electric lights and high traffic density.

Then, traders moved the market to the above area since 2009. In fact, during the day this place is still a people's market, and only in the late afternoon does it change to an areca market.

Choosing areca nuts is also very elaborate.

To prepare for this market, Mr. Thau and other areca traders in Thuy Nguyen district usually arrive at the market early, whoever arrives first sets out the areca first, neatly arranging the booths on the ground, whoever arrives later sets out their goods later. At around 7:30 pm, the areca traders finish displaying their goods, they sit and wait for the market management to turn on the lights to make transactions.

Beautiful areca clusters are displayed for sale before the market management turns off the lights to start the market at 8pm.

When the market management turns on the lights, the buying and selling activities begin to become lively. However, under the dim light, areca buyers still need the support of flashlights to choose for themselves beautiful areca clusters.

The buying and selling takes place in exactly 1 hour, whether there are still goods or not, whether the market is crowded or empty, the market management will turn off the lights at exactly 9 pm. At this time, without anyone telling anyone, the sellers will quietly pack up their goods, the buyers will quietly leave the market.

While carefully shining the flashlight into the areca clusters, Mr. Thau explained that the flashlight must be used carefully to select the areca clusters that are truly satisfactory, with round, even fruits, without any bumps or dents, and to avoid areca clusters with “dragon nests”, or areca fruits with pests or spots. If not carefully selected, the areca clusters cannot be used for the ceremony.

Mr. Nguyen Van Minh, a trader in Hanoi who has been associated with the Quang Thanh areca market for many years, shared that to choose a beautiful bunch of areca, buyers need to choose bunches with full “beard and hair” cabinets, large, round fruits, flexible branches, and evenly distributed fruits. If the bunch of areca lacks one of the above criteria, it cannot be sold to the buyer for the ceremony.

Explaining the practice of turning off the lights before each market hour, Mr. Nguyen Manh Tuan (55 years old, resident of Quang Thanh commune) said: "This custom has existed since ancient times, to avoid people coming here to compete to buy, and also to create fairness, people who come first as well as those who come later can all choose for themselves the areca bunches they like."

For that reason, since its opening, this wholesale market has not had any disputes, quarrels or disturbances. The surcharge includes seats and parking fees of 20,000 VND, and there are no other charges.

Ups and downs of the areca nut driving profession

This year, the price of fresh areca nuts increased to a record high at the end of April, around 25,000 VND/kg, by June it had increased to 50,000 - 55,000 VND and is currently at 80,000 VND/kg.

Beautiful areca bunches are selected to be sold as wedding areca or for ceremonies by traders.

“At the beginning of the year, the price of fresh areca nuts also increased but only fluctuated at 45,000 - 50,000 VND/kg. After storm No. 3, the price of fresh areca nuts gradually increased to 60,000 - 70,000 VND/kg and peaked at 80,000 VND/kg including branches and stems. The current price of fresh areca nuts is a record high in the past 10 years,” said Ms. Thu, an areca nut seller.

Mr. Vu (Khe Giang commune, Thuy Nguyen district), one of those who has been involved in the areca profession since he was very young, shared that due to many factors such as storm No. 3 and China increasing its purchasing volume, the areca price this year is expensive. But expensive input also expensive output, both growers and traders have money coming in and out.

“For many years, there were a lot of areca nuts, but after collecting them, they couldn’t sell them, resulting in a loss of hundreds of millions. One year makes up for another, one trip makes up for another, if you don’t follow your profession, what can you do now?” said Mr. Vu.

Similarly, Mr. Minh shared: “To pursue this profession depends on fate, not everyone can do it just because they want to. Before, I went to Thuy Nguyen, spent hundreds of millions to buy a whole areca garden, but due to many reasons and lack of experience, I suffered many losses. When I learned about the areca market, I switched to buying areca at the market to be sure.”

According to Mr. Minh, there are two forms of buying areca nuts: Buying the whole garden and buying retail at the market. Buying retail like this is called "3 mo", meaning 3 dependent and fragile things: Not much capital, not much working day, areca nut price fluctuates depending on the buyer. Buying at the garden when the crop is big, you can also make a profit of several hundred million, even billion VND/crop, but sometimes you can also lose. Buying retail, the loss rate is very low, and the profit is only a million or so VND/day, sometimes only a few hundred thousand VND.

Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Thai, a trader from Thai Nguyen, said that every day he leaves Thai Nguyen at 3 pm, and when he finishes buying areca nuts, he returns home at 1 am. The next morning, he goes to each point to sell them, regularly 30 days a month, regardless of rain or shine. “Now the roads are more convenient, making travel easier. Although provinces like Phu Tho and Vinh Phuc also grow a lot of areca nuts, Thuy Nguyen areca nuts are preferred by buyers, who are willing to pay a higher price.”

At the Quang Thanh areca market, the price of areca depends on the quality and the purpose of use of each individual or trader. The price of areca at the peak of the season is about 3 - 4 million VND/bunch.

According to Mr. Thau, since the areca market was held here, he has witnessed a wedding areca bunch being sold for up to 8 million VND. The bunch has about 150 areca nuts, meeting all the high standards of a beautiful areca bunch. Currently, the average price is about 1 million VND/bunch.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/doc-dao-phien-cho-cau-chi-hop-mot-tieng-trong-dem-192241101112921201.htm