Cho Han, also known as Han Market @ Danang in Vietnam

Just like Ho Chi Minh City has Ben Thanh Market and Hanoi is blessed with Dong Xuan Market, people will tell that the most famous market in Danang is Cho Han, also known as Han Market.

I have no idea which was the main entrance but the first photograph I showed was the entrance facing the Han River, which I presumed was the reason for naming the market after it. 

Unlike Cho Ben Thanh and Cho Dong Xuan, Cho Han wasn't a century-old historical market. It first gained prominence in 1940s as a trading area and this building was built and opened 33 years old, in 1991. 

Generally, it felt very much like the buildings in Singapore that were built in the late 1980s, early 1990s, although shop-wise, there were the Vietnamese elements of what goes into a market. 

Stalls that were parked very tightly to one another, and stacked up so high; it was only good for photo-taking but horrendous for a shopper who honestly wouldn't know where to look as the eyeballs keep darting from one product to the other one!

Similar to Ben Thanh Market, there was this wider central pathway that allowed shoppers more "breathing space", although you would have to be mindful of the stallowners flanking each side. To be fair, they weren't as touchy as those in Ben Thanh Market.

Some willingly posed for my DSLR camera! As I have been to Southern, Central and Northern Vietnam, I associate friendliness by how often people in those three regions photobombed my photographs. Top is Southern, and the worst is Northern. 

How to choose among so many products?! When it comes to 3-in-1 coffee powder, I would strongly recommend G7 or the Legend brand. Point is; you can get G7 easily from supermarkets and there are Legend cafes in major Vietnamese cities.

Fresh produce; while there were many comments saying Han Market is for tourists, I wonder how these fresh produce stalls survive since you don't really get tourists buying kilograms worth of fruits. 

And incredibly, you have raw meat stalls too! Although it was refreshing to the eyes and nose, how many tourists would buy raw chicken, pork and beef?! Not when most of us would stay in hotels, inns, hostels where a kitchen is usually not provided. 

One thing that got me surprised.

Most, if not all the butchers were female!

I always find it disturbing when raw meat stalls are so near non raw meat stalls. A fling of the chopper and a piece of meat would likely find itself lying on a bed of cashew nuts (for example). Personally, it's a risk i don't like to take.

Ending with a narrower passage with food and drink stalls on the sides. Even though I was keen to get a fruit juice, I hesitated as most stalls would add in sugar syrup. Anyway, it would be the entrance / exit facing Han River after stepping out from this passage. p.s. I didn't go up to level two.

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Address

119 Trần Phú, Hải Châu 1, 

Hải Châu, Đà Nẵng 550000, Vietnam

Map

As above.

Floor Plan

As above.

Click here for my 8 Days' Itinerary to Danang (The City of Bridges) & Hoi An (The City of Lanterns) in Vietnam