Thai Phien Street - Emotions

(Baonghean) - The road is about a kilometer and a half long, passing through several of the most bustling intersections in the center of Vinh city, each of which seems to be the beginning of a different feeling. The road seems to be unique in Vinh city in terms of its "broken" segments, and especially because of the rich historical stories surrounding it...

Thai Phien Street.

In 1901, the book “General Annam” wrote: “Vinh is 400 kilometers from Hue and 296 kilometers from Hanoi, with 40 Europeans, 161 Chinese, 12,000 Vietnamese, and is the capital of Nghe An province. Two years ago, Vinh became a real city with beautiful straight cobblestone streets, streets with many Chinese and Vietnamese shops and handicraft shops, such as ironware, embroidery, parasol making, paper making, and wood and bamboo trading. The area where the Chinese live has many beautiful tall lofts, with stone courtyards closely spaced together…”. That densely populated area of ​​the Chinese, at that time called the Guest Street, mainly resided along the trading route from Cua Tien to Vinh market. On the left side of Vinh market, Thai Phien Street appeared like a fateful eyebrow. In the memories of the elderly, Thai Phien Street in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, although located next to bustling trade, did not have the bustling appearance of residential architecture, the life of workers was still more heavy with the atmosphere of the street than the rhythm of small traders. Thai Phien Street at that time was mainly the place where ordinary laborers lived, serving the shops, stores and bustling buying and selling services of the market.

During the subsidy period, cooperatives were present as organized collective business models, and the Moc Thong Nhat Cooperative became the highlight at the end of Thai Phien Street. I completely failed in trying to find sources of documents recording the market space at that time. Fortunately, the sidewalk culture helped me meet respected senior figures. In their memories, at that time, the emulation movements for labor and good production spread strongly, creating a bustling atmosphere. At that time, the Moc Thong Nhat Cooperative mainly produced household wooden products, serving the practical needs of people's lives. All purchases and sales were through coupons, and the Thai Phien Street in front of the cooperative gate was always bustling with people coming in and out, lining up to wait their turn.

In front of the gate of Moc Thong Nhat Cooperative, there is an old tamarind tree with a large, shady canopy that covers a stretch of the road in the summer. Under the tree is Mr. Thao's tea shop, which was once famous for selling acne patches. Young men, women, and old people who often chatted often sat there, sometimes to calm down and play a few games of Chinese chess to pass the day, sometimes to chew betel, sip a bowl of green tea and chat about the East and the West until the shop was closed. Later, the shop closed down due to reduced customer demand, closed for several decades, thought to have completely closed down, but a few years ago, it suddenly "opened" again. It was still the same makeshift shop as before, still the same plastic boxes with peanut candy and a few rickety wooden chairs, the owner is Mr. Thuc - Mr. Thao's younger brother. Every morning and afternoon, passing by, you still hear the shop bustling with laughter, the customers are mainly workers, manual laborers for warehouses, unloading gathering points for porters, cyclo drivers, and market-stop drivers.

People still believe that walking on the street is the clearest way to feel the soul of urban life. That the hustle and bustle, or the peaceful quiet, or the sad and deserted... all exist on the street's appearance. Starting from the intersection with Dinh Cong Trang street, then crossing Ngu Hai intersection, going a little further to Tran Phu intersection, then passing the shops stacked with all kinds of goods to encounter Ngo Duc Ke intersection, at this point the street softens with the colors of rustic cuisine to flow out to the intersection with Ben Den street, and finally stops at the intersection with Cao Xuan Huy street. Thai Phien street crosses the territory of 3 wards: Quang Trung, Hong Son and Vinh Tan, all these meeting points have created a special street with many emotional nuances of Vinh City.

Each intersection is like a starting point for new sensations. The beginning of the street is quiet with a few passionate sidewalk cafes; bustling with trading of garment materials, fashion shops, bird cages, fishing equipment, etc.; plus fried dumpling shops, Thai sweet soup shops, fragrant Hue noodle pots, etc.; passing Ben Den, the atmosphere of making a living seems to overwhelm the hustle and bustle outside. On the left side of the street is a bustling street-front residential architectural space, with some 4-5 storey houses, while on the right side, there are still quiet mechanical workshops, fine art carpentry workshops, and even a scrap consumption point where in front of it there are always cyclos with tangled rubber bands tying goods ready for transport. The street has a heavy appearance of a former laborer, also because the collective housing of the Thong Nhat Wood Cooperative is located right on the side of the road. The cooperative has long since dissolved, but that atmosphere still lingers today, when the degraded dormitories still retain the same architectural style as in the 1980s of the last century...

Although the street is not famous for its ecology, it is still pleasing to the eye because of the density of trees covering the street. There are big and small trees of all kinds, protecting the residents of this street through the hot Lao wind in the summer. And if it rains, standing on high ground to watch the street is also an interesting feature. The lines of vehicles are busy moving about in their daily lives, the sound of bargaining under the shops, leaning out a little, you can embrace the whole open, expansive space of the street, seeing in your eyes a new love for the street!

Phuong Chi