The poem about 47 marketplaces still retains its sensation on reading just as the first encounter. It was the memories of childhood as my seventh aunt got back from Bung Cau marketplaces with various kinds of fruits and cakes for children.
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Charming folk cakes are still on sales at Bung Cau marketplace
As a lady, she was dressing humbly to sell custard apples at Bung Cau marketplace at dawn. On seeing her getting back home, we gathered up for her gifts. There were cakes and sweets of all kinds or the custard apples not sold out. It was delicious in every bite and enchanted by her sweetest love for the children. After splitting the gifts among the children, she sat down to pick the vegetables with funny tales told. There was time she read out a poem about 47 marketplaces with riddles for us to tell the names. We were in great laughters as having our own gold.
In her words, Bung Cau marketplace, located along National Highway number 13, has been a place of goods exchange and most of all the revolutionary address of the August Revolution in 1945. On August 23, 1945, Thu Dau Mot Communist Party Committee met to deploy forces and designate officials of the uprising committee led by Van Cong Khai along with the decision to move the HQ to Lo Chen crossroad to carry out the uprooting of local province.
Bung Cau Market has long been renowned as a hub for trading goods, particularly various types of locally grown vegetables around the Tan An, Tuong Binh Hiep, and Dinh Hoa regions. The imagery of this market has been immortalized in poetry and folklore. Today, it remains a marketplace for agricultural products, offering relatively affordable prices. In 2003, Hiep An commune was established by separating from Tan An and Tuong Binh Hiep. In 2008, Hiep An was upgraded to become a ward. When mentioning Hiệp An ward, apart from the Đại Nam tourist area, people also remember the fields of ornamental plants during the Lunar New Year and the bustling Bung Cau marketplace. During the days leading up to Tet, passing by the Bung Cau marketplace, the fragrant aroma of ornamental plants, along with the vibrant colors of Tet flowers, further excite and anticipate the start of a new year.
Nowadays, does Bung Cau market still preserve cultural values like traditional markets do? How are local products displayed and sold? What makes the stories of the small traders here special? We invite our esteemed readers to watch the next episode of the program "I Love Binh Duong". The program is produced by Binh Duong Newspaper and to be on air at 6 am on Sunday (December 17, 2023) at www.baobinhduong.vn.
Reported by Thuc Van – Translated by Vi Bao
