The rural market in Hue, Vietnam, reminds me of my memories in China decades ago. The one I am thinking of in particular is located at a street corner, near the Foreign Language College of Hue University.

    In the morning, people wearing hats, masks and slippers, hailing from all directions, park their bikes alongside the street and then thread their way among the throngs of people moving at a leisurely pace. The road is about four meters wide, but it is narrowed by little stalls where several kinds of food are sold.

    The market doesn’t have clear signs to indicate where certain goods are sold. Stalls selling meat and vegetables scatter randomly, but you can find what you need without effort. Only meat is displayed on trestle tables, and the vegetables are laid on the floor. That may give you an impression of disorder and lack of hygiene.

    Although goods here are not so rich in variety, they are enough for the necessities of daily life. Foods that you are familiar with — carrot, cabbage, tomato, tofu, beef and pork — are extensively available. If you are interested in colors, why not gather the colors of the rainbow to make a banquet — red (tomato), orange (carrot), yellow (pawpaw), green (Chinese cabbage), blue (eggplant) and purple (sweet potato).

    One thing very strange to me is that the stallholders don’t sell goods measuring in weight, but in quantity, unless they have to. For example, stallholders selling meat have to measure its weight, because buyers usually buy a little so they may deprive themselves of a profit. Chinese cabbage is sold in bunches and tomatoes are sold in numbers. Stallholders will also give their customers some peppers and spring onions to show their personal regard for them.

    The food stall, where juice of every conceivable kind is sold, is behind the vegetable stall. The stall is simply equipped — pots, glasses, and several sets of tables and stools. It takes a lot of courage to sit and have a taste of the food there, judging by the poor environment. The juice is exposed to the air and all the glasses are soaked in a tub of used water. Once an order is made, a glass will be taken from the water and directly filled with juice. You may be able to resist the temptation of food at the beginning. However, sooner or later, you will yield to it and follow other’s suit.

    There is a grocery offering daily necessities — rice, salt, sugar and more. The oil, soy sauce and chili sauce are displayed on the shelf, and noodles, salt and sugar are stored in a glass counter. However, as a foreigner, it may be a little difficult to get what you need. It takes a long time for you to be understood by the owner, who speaks with strong Hue accent. Therefore, you would prefer to use your fingers rather than mouth to communicate with the grocer.