VietNamNet Bridge – Day in, day out, a section of Quang Trung Street that leads to the bank of the Thach Han River in Quang Tri Town in the central province of the same name turns bustling in the early hours of every morning with many vendors gathering to trade goods.

The agricultural wholesale market is seen early in the morning on Quang Trung Street near the bank of the Thach Han River in Quang Tri Town is lit up by torches

The market begins transactions at around three to four in the morning, so vendors use torches as a main source of light. Torches can be found everywhere at the market, either in the hand of vendors or customers, on the floor, or on the foreheads of some vendors, which makes them look like miners in a dark tunnel.

This “torch market” operates like a wholesale market because most customers come to get products and then retail them at other markets in the morning.

A customer holds a torch to inspect vegetables     A vendor with a torch on the forehead

It sells only agricultural products which are grown in the province. Products are brought there by motorbike and bicycle. Sometimes, they are carried in bamboo rattans on the shoulders of some poor vendors who walk to market.

Business seems to go smoothly and quickly at the market. When the sun rises, vendors will clean up the place and return the space back to the street.