Móng Cái Border Market

The township of Móng Cái is 178 km from Ha Long City and 350 km from Hanoi; situated in a prominent position in north-east Vietnam. The market is comprised of three zones; all situated in the sub-district of Hoà Lac, 1 km from the Bắc Luân border crossing. There are thousands of households here, almost all of which are bilingual in Chinese and Vietnamese.

Goods traded in the market and exchanged across the border are varied. Chinese goods imported into Vietnam include: speciality fabrics, ready-made dresses, mosquito nets, shoes, sandals, electronics, toys, candies and fruit. Vietnamese goods exported to China are mainly seafood products and agricultural foodstuffs such as tea, coffee and sesame.

Also in the market are traditional northern medicinal ingredient stalls, with Chinese physicians feeling your pulse and writing out prescriptions for the correct medicine.

The Móng Cái Border Market has developed not only into a trade centre for the exchange of goods, but also a place for cultural meetings and exchange between China and Vietnam.

It is located on the banks of the beautiful Ka Long River; the international border to the Chinese province of Kwang Si. Móng Cái is a place of direct trade and economic and cultural exchange between the provinces of Quảng Ninh and Kwang Si.

Previously, Móng Cái was the provincial capital of the former Hai Ninh Province. Following border hostilities between Vietnam and China on February 1979, the township was destroyed, seeing the loss of many economic and cultural traits; in particular the ancient quarter along the Ka Long River. Since 1991, following the betterment of relationships between the two countries, trade exchange at the border has increased substantially.

After shopping, tourists can enjoy Vietnamese and Chinese dishes. Many famous Chinese restaurants offer dishes and wines from famous Mao Ðài wine to normal wines: Thần Phụ tửu, Khổng Phụ Tửu, Ngũ lương dịch... Chinese specialities: Beijing roasted duck, cay tê soya cheese.