Dong Xuan market, and what the three floors are for
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Dong Xuan is where Hanoi's shops buy what they sell. It is a wholesale market with a public door, three floors of stock nobody is expected to buy one of, and an alley of food along one side that is the real reason to walk up.
What is inside?
Dong Xuan market is the largest covered market in Hanoi, at the top of the Old Quarter, trading over three floors. The building dates from the French period, burned in 1994 and was rebuilt, and it has been the city's wholesale hub throughout.
The ground floor holds food, dried goods, plastic housewares and hardware. The first floor is fabric, thread, buttons and bulk clothing. The top floor is shoes and clothes sold by the sack rather than by the piece.
Nothing on those floors is arranged for a visitor. Stalls are stacked to head height, the aisles are a metre wide, and the stock is priced in dozens.
| Floor | What it sells | Worth your time? |
|---|---|---|
| Ground | Food, dried goods, hardware, plastics | Yes, for the scale |
| First | Fabric, haberdashery, bulk clothing | Only if you sew |
| Top | Clothes and shoes by the sack | No |
| Alley outside | Bun cha, bun rieu, banh cuon, che | The best part |
| Streets outside, Fri–Sun | Night market stalls | Different stock, cheap |
Is anything here worth buying?
Very little, if you are shopping for yourself. This is a market that sells fifty identical t-shirts to a shop that will sell them one at a time, and the prices only make sense at that quantity.
What does work is food from the ground floor: dried fruit, nuts, tea, coffee and spices, sold by weight at prices below the tourist markets in the centre.
For souvenirs go elsewhere. The shopping guide covers where the craft is, and the markets guide explains how a Vietnamese market is laid out before you walk into one.
What is the food alley?
The alley along the eastern side of the market is the reason most visitors should come. Stalls with low stools sell bun cha, bun rieu, banh cuon, che and grilled things, and the trade is local.
Lunch is the hour. A bowl runs 35,000 to 60,000 dong, which is one to two dollars at about 26,000 dong to the US dollar — the cheap eating guide covers how to read a stall with no menu.
Eat here and skip the market floors entirely, and the trip still works.
What hour is the market working?
Before nine in the morning, when the wholesale trade is moving and the loading is visible from the street. By midday the building is hot and the aisles are full of trolleys.
The market closes around six in the evening. From Friday to Sunday the streets outside become a night market running to about eleven, selling clothes, phone cases and street food — a different thing on the same ground.
The Hanoi things to do page puts the market at the end of an Old Quarter walk, which is the right amount of time to give it.
How does it compare with Ben Thanh?
Dong Xuan is a working wholesale market and Ben Thanh in Saigon is a tourist market in a landmark building. Prices at Dong Xuan are lower and the stock is not aimed at you.
Hanoi does its daily food shopping at neither Dong Xuan nor Ben Thanh. That happens at the neighbourhood markets in every district, which are smaller, friendlier and better for an hour.
If you want one covered market in Hanoi for the atmosphere, this is it. If you want to buy something, the Old Quarter streets around it are the answer.
What is around it?
The thirty-six streets of the Old Quarter start at the market's southern side, still grouped by trade: Hang Ma for paper goods, Hang Bac for silver. An hour of aimless walking there is the standard Hanoi afternoon.
Train street is ten minutes' walk southwest, and Hoan Kiem lake the same distance south.
Long Bien bridge is five minutes north, which is worth the walk at sunset for the view along the river.
FAQ
What is Dong Xuan market?
The largest covered market in Hanoi, at the northern end of the Old Quarter, trading over three floors. It is a wholesale market first: most of the stock goes to smaller shops around the north, and the retail trade happens around the edges of that.
What is on each floor of Dong Xuan market?
The ground floor sells food, dried goods, household plastic and hardware; the first floor is fabric, haberdashery and bulk clothing; the top floor is clothes and shoes by the sack. The souvenir stalls are the least interesting part of the building.
What time does Dong Xuan market open?
From early morning, around six, until about six in the evening, with the wholesale trade busiest before nine. The streets outside turn into a night market from Friday to Sunday evening, which is a different thing with different stock.
Is Dong Xuan market worth visiting?
Worth half an hour for the scale and the food alley behind it, rather than for shopping. Visitors rarely buy anything at a wholesale market that sells by the dozen, and the prices only make sense in quantity.
Where do you eat at Dong Xuan market?
In the alley along the eastern side, which sells bun cha, bun rieu, banh cuon and che from stalls with low stools. It is the best reason to walk up here and it trades at lunch, when the market is at its busiest.
Is it safe to carry a bag at Dong Xuan?
Yes, with the usual crowded-market caution. Pickpocketing is the only real risk, the aisles are tight enough that people brush past constantly, and a bag worn in front solves it. Nothing about the market is dangerous beyond that.