Market ‘hybrid touch trim’

After finishing the order with customers online right at the market, they ask the price, negotiate with the villagers and weigh the goods. They pay but are not in a hurry to pick up the goods so they can go to another store and touch the trim again
There is a special market in the Northwest highlands that the locals also call by another name, “hybrid touch trim” (livestream). Called like that because the Mong, Thai, and Dao ethnic people who come to this market to sell goods are used to the image of smart mobile phones running through the market from night to morning. It is Tua Chua fair (Tua Chua district, Dien Bien province) Saturday night.

Like a wholesale market of forest products Unlike the markets in the Northwest that usually only meet on one day and then dissolve, the Saturday night Tua Chua market is busy from dusk on Saturday night until almost the end of Sunday afternoon. In the mornings from Monday to Saturday, Tua Chua market has people selling groceries, clothes, food… in cages, but there are few buyers. At noon on Saturday, the market began to gradually crowded with people from the Mong, Thai and Dao ethnic groups in the district bringing goods down to prepare for the fair, the most crowded being the Mong ethnic people. Just bought the orchid from the people, the “mixed touch” person offered to sell it right away On the way from Hanoi to the Northwest and Northeast highlands, people below have never seen a market with a lot of wild orchids, wild ginseng, herbs like at Tua Chua market on Saturday night, like a market. The clues of these goods come from the mountains and forests. Small traders at Tua Chua market said that before, the market was only held on Sunday mornings behind cage houses, the Mong ethnic people went to the market to sell chickens, ducks, underarm pigs, home-grown agricultural products, and herbs exploited in the forest. then buy clothes, farm tools, household appliances. People who buy and sell wild orchids from natural places gather in Tua Chua to hunt orchids of local people to exploit forest orchids or grow wild orchids at home and then sell them. They dated people to buy and sell wild orchids on Saturday night at Tua Chua market. It is always convenient for the Mong ethnic people to go to the market to sell orchids on Saturday night and then stay at the market on Sunday morning. So Tua Chua market has had a Saturday night market for more than 3 years now. The front of Tua Chua market looks very popular, unlike the vibrant scene in the back At first, Tua Chua fair market on Saturday night only had people buying and selling wild orchids, later on, people also brought wild ginseng, special agricultural products of the highland such as small root ginger, black turmeric, cardamom, and herbs. pharmacy… Buyers see many things below that they don’t have or have but are not as good, so they can buy more to use, as gifts. Guests spread the word about the interesting, unique and strange things they bought, making the Saturday night Tua Chua market noticed. However, Tua Chua is far away, not everyone has the conditions and time to come, so orchid hunters make contact with local people, asking for help buying and sending. Seizing the opportunity, some local people became collectors, collectors of business, Tua Chua market on Saturday night became a wholesale market of wild orchids, forest ginseng, precious agricultural products, and highland herbs from Vietnam. when no one knows. It can be said that this is the only night market selling wild orchids and ginseng in Vietnam so far. Mobile technology pervades Those who specialize in buying forest orchids, ginseng through rocks, herbs at Tua Chua market on Saturday night are mostly Kinh people in other localities but living in Tua Chua; a few are young people from the Mong, Thai, and Dao ethnic groups from Sin Ho (Lai Chau), Quynh Nhai (Son La), Tuan Giao, and Muong Cha (Dien Bien). Wild orchids are the most sought after item. Every Saturday, they gather at Tua Chua market to pick up people from the villages to bring orchids to the market. Bought a lot are rare orchids such as scallops; Orchid with beautiful flowers are popular as paint daffodils, kim scallops, square kieu, purple kieu, yellow kieu, royal lap, Hoang Thao, jade point … The price of orchids is high or low depending on each orchid, orchid bush. People in the village who are honest but buy and sell many times also know that they shouldn’t be in a hurry to sell, but just put it out there for buyers to see, tell the price, whoever pays more will sell. “Mixed trim” sells wild orchids Unlike wild orchids, the types that are considered precious from the mountains such as rock ginseng (rock ginseng), three-kid tubers, herbs are almost the same purchase price, the only difference is large, small, and quality. How fresh and dry. At dusk, Tua Chua market on Saturday night began to be bustling. Those who come for the first time will be amazed with the light from the flashlights mounted on the seller’s head and the light from the many smart mobile phones that are directly transmitting images for sale. Perhaps even the big cities in Vietnam do not have a market where the “hybrid touch” sales force is as large as in Tua Chua market far away in this Northwest highland. Buyers who gathered enough goods, began to “mix and trim” to sell online. Each person has 2-3 phones working at the same time, just transmitting pictures of each orchid, introducing, trading, and selling prices continuously: “Is there anyone who closes the ceiling of the earth orchids, is it beautiful? glass is always, beautiful bag, always coffee”, “Mr. Tran Phuc, the price of bare berry is 480,000 VND, is it OK for my sister?”, “Brother Le Trung, please give me the phone number above. Please finish off the overseas spring rolls, price 150,000 VND, please”, “This application for painting daffodils is closed for Mr. Tu Cuong, what is the address in Hue, bro”… The buyer side also responded: “Sister, look at the orchid here, let me see how the orchid is, but 50 million or 5 million dong?”, “50 million, but how can 5 million dong get you, orchids? it’s rare”. Closing any order, the seller immediately took the phone number and address written on the small piece of paper attached to the orchid that had just had a buyer. For precious orchids, the seller “hybrid touch” does not set a specific price, but gives the starting price of each tree for those who love that type of orchid to auction. The highest bidder wants to own that orchid but is far away, must ask an acquaintance at Tua Chua who has knowledge about orchids to check the tree and receive the goods immediately. Unlike the orchid sellers who have booths, sit on the spot “hybrid touch trim”, those who “hybrid touch trim” to sell ginseng and herbs mostly do not have stalls. They walk around the market, holding a tree with 2-3 smartphones, and carrying a small bag with a notebook on their shoulders. Seeing the place of ginseng and herbs of the villagers that are beautiful, the “mixed touch” people put the phone in to introduce, price immediately without asking the villagers how to sell. “Today, my family has ginseng piercing stone cool liver, good health for both men and women, very nice products. The price of big ginseng root is 80,000 VND per pound, small root is 60,000 VND per kilogram. Please order quickly”, “Hey guys, is this ginseng beautiful, put it in glass glue soaked in wine, it looks very nice, it’s good to drink”, “If you like stewed chicken with ginseng, this ginseng is great very”, “Brother Nam in Hanoi 2 pounds right? Sister in Saigon 4 pounds give me the address, phone number too”… After finishing the order with customers online, those who “mix and touch” will ask the price, pay the price with the villagers and weigh the goods. They pay but are not in a hurry to pick up the goods to free their hands to go to another “hybrid touch” to continue. At the end of the night of the market, each person “crossed and touched” sold at least 20-30 kg of ginseng, some people managed to lock up to a hundred kilograms. Closing the order, the person who “preliminarily trims” records the ticket immediately Know “hybrid touch”, sell more goods Ms. Mi Sen and 3 Dao people are all from Sin Ho (Lai Chau province) selling at this market for only one year. They buy ginseng from local people to collect in the forest and then bring it to this market to sell. At first, the girls sold it to a few people who specialized in “hybrid touch trim”, gradually learned how people did it, and then also “hybrid touched trim” sold their own ginseng, only reaching the level of “hybrid touching trim” on one phone. only phone, but the sales are more than before. A teacher from Thai Binh came to Tua Chua to teach, and every time she went to the fair, she went to the market to sell ginger, black turmeric, and cardamom to earn extra income. She said that ginger and black turmeric grown in the highlands are more spicy and fragrant than those grown in the lowlands, so they are very popular. Usually customers close orders of at least 5 kg of ginger or turmeric, at least 1 kg of cardamom. She bought it, packed it, called the “Giaohangtietkiem” party to pick it up and deliver it for her, the “cyp” money (delivery fee) was paid by the customer, for every 5 kg of ginger, the fee was about 30,000 – 40,000 VND. The teacher speaks Hmong, so she has the advantage of fast transactions with the Mong people who go to the market to sell goods compared to other “mixed touch” people. Those who “hybrid touch” work until 23 o’clock, then temporarily stop, bring the goods to pack to deliver in the morning to the “cyp” carrier for the customer. They sleep on the spot or rent a motel to take advantage of a few hours. Around 5-6 am on Sunday morning, this force again went to the market to hunt for beautiful forest orchids, good ginseng penetration, continue to “mix and trim” to take advantage of closing more orders. Over a Saturday night and a Sunday morning, mobile technology has brought goods from Tua Chua market to many buses to all regions. On Sunday morning, returning to the market, the Mong and Thai people saw us handing over our phones to take pictures and videos, and they asked again: “Did you just come here?”. At dusk on Saturday night, the Mong ethnic people bring their goods to the market Meeting day If you go to the provinces in the Northwest and Northeast, if you meet on the right day of the fair, all lowland people will like it. The fair for the highlanders is like a festival to meet each other, trading is simply selling what they can grow and raise in the village or go to the forest to earn and then buy what they need. These very rustic images allow people below to walk up and down the market to learn many unique cultural features of each ethnic minority community.