Without fail, a night market is set up on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday near the famous Dong Xuan market (Chợ Đồng Xuân) (see picture above). The present Dong Xuan market is reconstructed in the image of the old Dong Xuan market, which was almost totally gutted in a fire in 1994. You can find wholesalers and traders selling garments, household goods, fresh fruits and vegetables to stalls selling Vietnamese food.
The night market straddles 5 streets starting from Hàng Đào Street(Phố Hàng Đào), continuing along Hàng Ngang Street (Phố Hàng Ngang), Hàng Đường Street(Phố Hàng Đường), Đồng Xuân Street (Phố Đồng Xuân), and ending at Hàng Giấy Street (Phố Hàng Giấy).
You can get great bargains of bootlegged branded goods at fantastic prices...provided, of course, you know how to bargain.
Be prepared to be fleeced, if you don't bargain. Knowing a word or two of Vietnamese helps to soften the seller's resistance to reduce prices. There is no hard and fast rule, but a rule of thumb is to aim to achieve a discount of 30% to 40% off the initial quoted price.
Back off from aggressive bargaining, when the seller becomes visibly unhappy or testy. Your counteroffer has probably taken away too much of the profit margin, leaving little benefit to the seller in selling you the item(s).
At this time of the year when it approaches Christmas, and is not so far away from Tết (the Vietnamese New Year), it may be quite a sight to foreigners to see stalls displaying Christmas decorations for sale in one stall, and decorations for the Tết festival in an adjacent stall or across the street.
Besides festive season decorations, you can find leather bags, wallets, belts, shoes, undergarments, sports suits, clothes, handphone covers, books and movie DVDs being marketed in the night market stalls, as well as in the shops along these streets.
