Giat Market past and present

(Baonghean.vn) -In Nghe An province, there are many markets in the mountainous, midland and coastal districts. But the most unique and still preserving the rustic and rural features is probably Cau Giat market (Cau Giat town, Quynh Luu district). This is where the talented writer Nguyen Minh Chau passionately conceived and then created the work "Giat market" that captivated many readers across the country. Every time Tet comes, the Cau Giat market becomes more and more bustling and colorful, with people excitedly and happily going to the market to enjoy the spring...

Writer Nguyen Minh Chau wrote “Giat Market” in 1989, when our country had just entered a period of difficult and challenging renovation. Quynh Luu is a coastal district, where life mainly depends on agriculture, so hunger and poverty are still evident in every house, street corner, on every face, and the hard-working, weary gait of the people.

The old ladies' rural goods

The work “Giat Market” has a fairly simple structure, just a story about old Khung going to the market to sell an old cow to the butcher at the market, a journey from home to the street, from the time he wakes up at two or three in the morning until dawn. A distance quite close to a few hours of walking, but this journey is longer, longer because of the memories, the periods of his life relived with pride, suffering, torture, hardship, life, death and tears…. Along with “The Last Moon in the Forest”, the work “Giat Market” has brought writer Nguyen Minh Chau to a new height, leaving a deep impression in the hearts of readers across the country. Especially after the work written about his hometown Nghe An, domestic and foreign tourists have known about it, many people come to “Giat Market” to experience and immerse themselves in the space of the old market town.

Nearly 25 years have passed since the author published his work, and Giat market has undergone many changes and innovations. But in general, this place still retains its simple, rustic features; huts and chairs still sell rustic food and drinks to serve farmers with muddy hands and feet. According to the lunar calendar, Cau Giat market meets every 5 days. Ms. Ngo Thi Mien - a long-time seller here confided: "Now, following the development, the government has built a house, solid market stalls, and sells many modern goods. But many people who go to the market, especially at the end of the year when the weather is cold like this, still come to the simple, rustic huts to drink a cup of tea, smoke a pipe of tobacco, chat, and confide in each other. These huts, after decades, still sell only one rustic product made by our people."

People go to the market to buy sticky rice, dong leaves, and giang tubes to wrap banh chung to celebrate Tet.

Giat market is not only a place for wholesale but also a place for cultural exchange, dating and trading. Early in the morning, when the morning dew is still faint and people's faces are not clearly visible, people from all over the streets flock to the market. Giat market is not only a trading place for people in Quynh Luu district but also for neighboring areas such as Yen Thanh and Dien Chau. For people in the countryside, going to the market is like a joy rewarded after days of hard work. Ms. Truong Thi Hien in Quynh Tam commune happily said: "When the market comes, I bring some small things down to sell for fun. Going to the market to talk and confide in the sisters, I feel my heart lighten, all my fatigue disappears".

The market is not only a place that reflects the material and spiritual life of the people, but also preserves the cultural features and the soul of the countryside that have existed for hundreds of years. On the occasion of Tet, Giat market has scholars sitting next to ink trays, writing parallel sentences and calligraphy for customers, folk games that make many young boys crazy, and typical products of the coastal region of Quynh Luu or from the mountains. There are few people going to the Tet market to buy and sell, but many people going for a walk and sightseeing. Therefore, on the days before Tet, Giat market is crowded with people from everywhere. The market is so crowded, but from the beginning to the end of the market, you only meet acquaintances, everyone shakes hands, smiles and talks, then pulls each other to the cots in the corner of the market to drink a bowl of hot green tea, and smokes the delicious tobacco pipe of the coastal region of Quynh Di.

Paintings at Giat market

The market opens from early morning until almost noon, sometimes there are only a few hundred people in the market but it is unusually crowded. Buyers and sellers are bustling about but there is no jostling or arguing as is often seen in some other places. The sellers are friendly and inviting, customers can look around, buy if they like, and rarely haggle or challenge the price. Going to the market, perhaps the children are the happiest. Joy sparkles in their innocent eyes, they jump around, coax their parents to buy gifts and play games.

Nestled in the corner of the market are baskets of rice paper, betel and areca nuts, tobacco trays, and rustic cakes and fruits of old ladies who are "rare in the past and present". Mrs. Nguyen Thi Ti, with her toothless mouth chewing betel, happily said: "This market has existed since the day my hair was still in a tuft. Time flies, and my gift-carrying stall has been over 50 years old. I am old and weak, my children and grandchildren told me to stay home and rest, but I miss the market so much that I can't bear to be away from it for a few days." More than half a century has passed, the girl's hair is now white, her skin is freckled, the traces of time are imprinted on her wrinkled, kind face.

Going to Cau Giat market, besides enjoying the rustic dishes of the countryside, there are also specialties such as hot Phu Dien rice cakes, eaten right after being made on the stove; fragrant and fatty eel porridge, eel soup, just smelling it makes you want to enjoy it. And there is a dish that can be found anywhere from North to South except in this sunny and windy land: Lang leaf soup. The bitter, rich taste when enjoyed seems to linger forever with strange guests, half wanting to leave, half wanting to stay.

At the corner of the market, there is a bustling and attractive place for tourists to visit, the "puppy market". I have never seen a place where puppies are bought and sold as much as in this market. From early morning, thousands of puppies of all kinds are "gathered" here by people for tourists and people from everywhere to buy, sell and exchange. In addition, there is an empty lot behind the market to sell cows and buffaloes. Not as many as Dai Son cow and buffalo market (U market, Do Luong), but each market session, there are hundreds of cows bought and sold here. The bustling scene of buying, selling and exchanging makes anyone who visits once feel happy.

Giat Market today

Tet comes, spring returns, Giat market puts on a colorful, vibrant "clothing". At the market gate, pots of chrysanthemums, apricot flowers, and peach flowers compete to show off their beauty; little boys in brand new clothes bought by their parents, poems and parallel sentences written by calligraphers in bright red pens, still smelling of ink; green dong leaves waiting to be wrapped in banh chung. On the faces of adults and children, everyone is eager and happy, preparing the atmosphere to say goodbye to the old year and welcome the new year.

Through the ups and downs of time, Giat market still retains the typical cultural features of the rustic countryside, attracting millions of shoppers and visitors every year, including many tourists from other provinces and internationally. People who live far away from home, every year at the end of the year, return to their hometown to visit the market, enjoy the Spring, and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere of their homeland.

Trieu Duong