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| A pathway in Dong Ba Market is named "Street No. 9". Photo: Bao Phuoc |
"Houses must have numbers, streets must have names"
These days, the Management Board and traders of Dong Ba Market are bustling with the implementation of a project that many people had never imagined or thought of before: the project of naming the pathways within the market! Accordingly, the pathways within the market will be named in numerical order as "Street No. 1," "Street No. 2," "Street No. 3," "Street No. 4"...
We asked Mrs. Hoang Thi Nhu Thanh, Head of the Management Board of Dong Ba Market, about why they chose to name the pathways "Street No. 1," "Street No. 2" … which are commonly seen names in large industrial zones. Since this is a proper market, even though it's well-organized, it mainly just assigns lot numbers, so why bother with naming the pathways? Mrs. Thanh chuckled and replied, "That's an old way of thinking. Our viewpoint is that Dong Ba Market is like a shared house. And in a house, there must be a house number, and streets must have their names to make it easier to find each other and conduct transactions, especially in this digital age."
According to Mrs. Hoang Thi Nhu Thanh, not only are they naming the pathways, but the Management Board of Dong Ba Market is also drawing detailed maps of the market, setting up signposts at street corners to facilitate visitors' exploration and shopping experiences. Moreover, they are working on digitizing a map of Dong Ba Market on the Hue-S platform to make it easier for people to trade and for tourists to find specific stalls in the market with the assistance of smartphones.
"Just like many other traditional markets across the country, in recent times, Dong Ba Market has also been greatly affected by the increasingly fierce competition from e-commerce platforms. Therefore, naming the pathways and digitizing the market map on the Hue-S platform are among our efforts to create a favorable and attractive environment to retain and attract people and tourists to visit and shop at the market," Mrs. Thanh said.
As always, this project of naming the pathways and digitizing Dong Ba Market is well received and supported by the traders in the market. "I have been trading at Dong Ba Market for 45 years, and I have seen many heads of the management board, but I have never seen such positive changes in the market. Especially, naming the pathways like this is the first time it has happened. Initially, the traders in the market didn't quite understand why we needed to name the pathways, but we trust Mrs. Thanh's decision. Surely, Mrs. Thanh will make the appearance of the market more beautiful and modern," Mrs. Nguyen Thi Minh Tinh, a trader at Dong Ba Market, shared.
No longer a "blemish" on Hue's culture
It is recalled that in November 2022, when discussing with us, Mr. Phan Thien Dinh, Secretary of the Hue City Party Committee, admitted a rather bitter reality. He said that Dong Ba Market at that time was degraded both in infrastructure and in cultural aspects and business practices. Especially, the situation of tourists being overcharged, haggled, etc., when entering the market was turning Dong Ba Market into one of the "blemishes" on Hue's culture.
"Dong Ba Market used to be a fortress to protect the cultural values of Hue to be preserved and developed. There have been many times when, entering Dong Ba Market, tourists could imagine part of Hue's culture and people through the images of the traders. Therefore, we are determined to change the image of Dong Ba Market, to show the cultural values of Hue, to make Dong Ba Market an indispensable destination for domestic and international tourists, as well as for Hue people returning to their hometown," Mr. Phan Thien Dinh said.
And this responsibility for change was entrusted by the Hue City Party Committee to Mrs. Hoang Thi Nhu Thanh, formerly the Chairwoman of the Hue City Labor Union, with many high hopes. Mrs. Thanh considered her transfer from the City Labor Union to Dong Ba Market as "returning home." She said "when I consider Dong Ba Market as my home, then anything that is bad, degraded, damaged, I will make efforts, spend energy and money to renovate it. Whatever is good and valuable, I will continue to promote to make it even better," she said.
With this philosophy, Mrs. Thanh has been meticulous, persistent, patient... in planning, mobilizing, persuading the traders in the market to make "revolutionary" changes. Most recently, prior to the project of naming the pathways, a reward of 500,000 dong was offered to citizens and tourists if they reported evidence to the Market Management Board about the situation of overcharging and price haggling...
Ms. Nguyen Mai Huong, a Hanoi native living in Danang, has a special affection for Hue, so for nearly 5 years, she has been shuttling between Hue and Danang like a pendulum and often takes some time to "visit Dong Ba Market just to eat something, buy something random" before returning home. She said, "If comparing before the COVID-19 pandemic and now, Dong Ba Market can be said to have truly transformed, and it's an unbelievable transformation."
"I have visited many famous traditional markets in Vietnam. But it can be affirmed that Dong Ba Market is outperforming the rest," Ms. Huong asserted.
The story of naming the pathways, digitizing on the Hue-S platform, and the journey to eliminate the "blemish" on Dong Ba Market's culture up to now can be said to be the most monumental evidence for the slogan "Hue is always new."