Located on the northern edge of Hanoi Old Quarters (about 2 kilometers from Hoan Kiem Lake), Đồng Xuân Market (Springfield Market) is the largest covered market of Hanoi where the wholesale traders would offer you a wide range of goods such as fresh produce, souvenirs, accessories and clothing, electronic and household appliances and foodstuffs, etc.
Originally built by the French administration in 1889, Dong Xuan Market has suffered from lots of historical chances, in which the most significant one was the huge fire occurred in 1994 that almost destroyed the market. After that, the Hanoi government had repaired and upgraded as well as expanded it with more retailed shops plus to the wholesale shops in the past. And since October 2004, the Dong Xuan street (in front of Dong Xuan market) has been made as pedestrian street on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening, making the whole market become a very attractive destination for Hanoian and foreign tourists. If you come here, you will hardly return home without buying anything because there are thousands of small interesting items can be found by you at nice price there.
Because the market is wide (about ten thousand square meters), so it would be very interesting for you to discover each part of the market. Similar to most markets in Southeast Asia, the bustling wet section is on the ground floor that sells seafood, meat, and vegetables. The back section sells an array of pets (cats, dogs, and fish) and fresh flowers from all across areas of Vietnam. If you’re looking to shop for souvenirs, let’s head to the upper levels, where you can find numerous stalls selling tee shirts, fabrics, school uniforms, handbags, handicrafts, all of which are sold at wholesale prices.
For the foodstuff, it will be easily to have a Vietnamese cup of coffee and other exotic local street food at price as low as VND 20,000 – 30,000 (~ 1-1.5 usd). Highly recommended dishes here are bún chả (marinated grilled pork served with noodles), bún riêu (crab paste served with noodles) and bánh cuốn (rolling steamed cake).
There are also many more shops surrounding Dong Xuan market where you can purchase traditional Dong Ho paintings, Bat Trang ceramics, Binh Da embroideries and laces, and sand paintings. Surely after a trip around this big market to experience the local lifestyle here, you would end up leaving with some cute things at good bargains as souvenirs for your friends and family: T shirt with Vietnam stamp, a Vietnamese conical hat or what else.
Opening times: Daily from 6.00AM to 19.00PM
