Dong Xuan Market: A Visitor's Guide to Hanoi's Old Wholesale Market

Walk north through the Old Quarter’s trade streets for long enough and you will reach Dong Xuan Market, a large market building where Hanoi has bought and sold in bulk for well over a century. It is not a polished tourist attraction. It is a working market full of stacked bales, narrow aisles and traders doing business, and that is exactly why it is worth a look.

Why Dong Xuan Market matters

Dong Xuan Market was built in 1889, during the French colonial period, to replace older markets nearby and bring the city’s trade together in one place. It grew into a trading hub for northern Vietnam, supplying shops far beyond Hanoi.

The market has also lived through some of the city’s hardest moments. During the 60-day defence of Hanoi at the start of the war against France, soldiers of the Capital Regiment fought French forces at the market on 14 February 1947, in the battle that closed that defence. In 1994 a serious fire badly damaged the market. It was repaired and rebuilt, and today the building has several floors of stalls.

In 2025 the Đồng Xuân Joint Stock Company marked the market’s 135th anniversary, and a book on its history was published using archive maps and records.

What you will see

The first thing to understand is that Dong Xuan Market is mainly a wholesale market. Many traders sell in bulk to shopkeepers from other towns and provinces, and some will not sell a single item. The table at the top of this guide explains how this works today.

• Clothing. Fashion is among the goods traded here, often sold by the bag or the bundle rather than piece by piece.
• Goods from many regions. The market has long gathered products from across the country for traders to take back to their own towns.
• The streets around the market. The lanes outside are busy too, with deliveries coming and going and traffic squeezing past.

Trade has slowed in recent years. Some traders have switched to retail to keep going, and the city has asked for regional specialities and certified local products to be brought into the market to serve visitors to the Old Quarter. What you find may change as that plan develops.

Local tip If you want to buy something, ask clearly whether a stall sells single items before you start choosing. Agree the price before the goods are wrapped.

Visiting respectfully

Remember that this is a workplace. Aisles are narrow and traders are busy, so:

• keep your bag in front of you and move aside for porters carrying goods;
• ask before photographing traders up close;
• do not block stall fronts while you look around;
• if a trader does not want to sell you a single item, thank them and move on.

When to go

Visit in the daytime, when the stalls are trading. We could not find an officially published timetable for the market, and individual stalls keep their own hours, so do not leave it until late in the day.

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings the Old Quarter’s walking streets open, and the night-market route runs from Hàng Đào up to the market. That is a different experience from the daytime trade, with street food and stalls aimed at visitors. The table above has the evening schedule.

Getting there

From Hoan Kiem Lake, walk north through the Old Quarter along Hàng Đào and the streets that follow it; this is also the route of the weekend night market. A taxi or ride-hailing car can drop you near the market, although the surrounding streets are often congested.

Combining it with nearby sights

Dong Xuan Market fits naturally into a walk through the Old Quarter’s trade streets. From the market you can continue towards Long Bien Bridge for views over the Red River, or head back south to Hoan Kiem Lake.