Hanoi Markets and Signs


Hanoi's markets are amazing. Except in the suburbs, I haven't seen anything remotely like a supermarket, or even grocery store. Everyone must shop from the fresh produce and meat offered at the open air markets. Of course, the downside to this is that hygiene standards are not terribly high, which may be part of the reason Vietnam was hit first, and hardest, by bird flu.

In the picture below, you can see how the vendors pile up the meat on large baskets. At the market you can also see the meat in various stages of preparation. Surprisingly, I haven't seen anything recognizable as chicken in these markets. Outside the markets, on a few sketchy looking side streets, I've seen some chickens in cages. I've also seen some ducks, whole or in parts, for sale in a few places.



I asked about H5N1 at dinner the other night, and my hosts said that the government has taken it very seriously. Restaurants can only serve chicken, or poultry, that has been stamped as approved by government health inspectors. But it must be terribly easy for the smaller sellers, especially the women who set up their baskets and cooker on a street corner and prepare pho, to circumvent these safeguards.



The above picture did not turn out that well, and I can't read Vietnamese, but it's obviously a warning about H5N1. I'm not sure about the problem of HIV/AIDS in Vietnam, but as with bird flu, the government seems to have some sort of public awareness campaign, as minimal as it may be. On the sign in the picture below, I was unable to tell if the silhouette of the woman was added to the sign as a form of graffiti, or if it was part of the sign's original design. Actually, come to think of it, I don't know if the sign was put up by the government or a group working on the AIDS issue. My guess is that the government would take the sign down if it was not approved in some way.



The next sign gives you a small sense of what the presence of communism feels like. Vietnam is far different than China, at least I am told, but it is still, technically, a communist government.



This last picture I took for fun. I'm not sure what was Californian about the electronics in this store. In general, though, the store's name illustrates how Vietnamese are very much oriented toward the west. The U.S. dollar is widely accepted, in fact preferred, and western styles, fashions and other cultural artifacts can be seen throughout Hanoi's streets.


Posted: Wed - January 11, 2006 at 05:01 AM          

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