On the way to Cam Pha, go to Ben Do fish market.

Located on the shores of Bai Tu Long Bay, Ben Do Fish Market is the largest seafood wholesale market in Cam Pha City, Quang Ninh Province. Every morning, hundreds of boats and thousands of people gather here to buy, sell, and exchange seafood and other essential goods. The bustling atmosphere of buyers and sellers, with their glistening, fresh fish and shrimp, creates a colorful scene in this mining region.

Through the photo series "Visiting Cam Pha and Ben Do Fish Market" by author Huy Hung, we invite tourists visiting Quang Ninh to join Vietnam.vn in exploring Ben Do market to immerse themselves in the bustling trading scene and choose the freshest seafood. The time from catching to transporting to the market is only a few hours, so the seafood is incredibly fresh, with glistening squid and shrimp still twitching in your hands… The author submitted this photo series to the "Happy Vietnam" Photo and Video Contest, organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications .

Located on Bai Tu Long Bay, the coal city of Cam Pha is blessed with many beautiful landscapes, especially an abundance of fresh seafood. From around 2-3 am, boats laden with fish, squid, shrimp, crabs, etc., line up to dock at the Ben Do wholesale market. Every morning, hundreds of boats and thousands of people come here to buy, sell, and exchange seafood and other essential goods. The bustling atmosphere of buyers and sellers, with glistening, fresh fish and shrimp, creates a colorful picture in this mining region.

Mr. Hoan, a vendor at the market, showed a customer a tiger grouper.

Ms. Thu has been selling seafood at Ben Do fish market for over 10 years.

Tourists visiting Quang Ninh often seek out the seafood vendors to immerse themselves in the bustling trading atmosphere and choose the freshest and most delicious seafood.

Every day, boats laden with seafood bustle back and forth at Ben Do. Previously, the market was called the "Wad Market" because boats couldn't get close to the shore and had to stop far out, forcing traders to wade through the water to receive their goods. In the last five years, the market has been rebuilt with wharves and docks, facilitating transportation and trade, eliminating the need for people to wade far out to retrieve their goods.

Ben Do fish market is located on the shores of Bai Tu Long Bay, an area with abundant seafood resources. The time from catching the fish to transporting it to the market is only a few hours, so the seafood is very fresh and plentiful.

The time from catching the seafood to transporting it to the market is only a few hours, so the seafood is very fresh and abundant...

Besides fresh seafood, Ben Do fish market is also a place for processing seafood, with oysters being a typical product.

Every day, the boats set sail from 11 PM to 3-4 AM, traveling about 30 nautical miles to catch sardines and other fish, which are then transported to the market for sale. The market offers a full range of specialty fish from the Northern coastal region. At Ben Do market, seafood is fresher and cheaper than in traditional markets.

Previously, this market only supplied seafood to traditional markets. Small traders came here to buy in bulk to resell. But later, the people of Cam Pha gradually developed the habit of waking up early to buy seafood directly when styrofoam containers and baskets of fresh seafood were displayed on the stalls. This is because buying here ensures the freshest and tastiest seafood at much cheaper prices than traditional markets.

When shopping at the market, customers can ask the vendors to prepare the goods according to their wishes. Experienced vendors at the market skillfully use their knives to fillet fish and quickly prepare several kilograms of squid; they are all very friendly and accommodating to customers. The scene of buying and selling, weighing each batch of shrimp and squid, is so lively.

In 2024, the "Happy Vietnam" photo and video contest continued to be organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications in collaboration with the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists on the website.   https://happy.vietnam.vn is open to all Vietnamese citizens and foreigners aged 15 and above. The competition aims to honor individuals and groups with positive informational products that make practical contributions to promoting a beautiful image of Vietnam to the world. Through this, it helps people at home, overseas Vietnamese, and international friends access authentic images of Vietnam, its people, its achievements in ensuring human rights, and working towards a happy Vietnam.

Each competition category (photos and videos) has the following prizes and prize values:
– 1 Gold Medal: 70,000,000 VND
– 2 Silver Medals: 20,000,000 VND
– 3 Bronze Medals: 10,000,000 VND
– 10 Consolation Prizes: 5,000,000 VND
– The most voted-for entry: 5,000,000 VND
The winning authors will be invited by the Organizing Committee to attend the Award Ceremony and Certificate Presentation, which will be broadcast live on Vietnam Television.

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