VietNamNet Bridge - About 80 kilometers from Hanoi, along Highway 21A, there is a bustling pig market that attracts traders from the North to the South.

Located on Road 975 in An Noi village, An Noi commune in Binh Lu district, Ha Nam province, this pig market or pig street has been operating for over ten years. It is known as the largest pig market in the country.

Mr. Cu Van Thuc, chief of An Noi village, said the pig market is crowded from 1am until the evening. Every day, it welcomes at least 300 pig traders from many provinces, particularly Hanoi, Yen Bai, Nam Dinh, Nghe An, Ha Tinh ... Some days, the market has the presence of over 1,000 merchants with large trucks.

Due to the increasing demand for pork in the market, people in An Noi have grouped up to make a big commercial association. There are hundreds of families in An Noi trading pigs, although they do not raise pigs.

At 12am, hundreds of pig merchants from Ha Tinh and Quang Binh were present at the market to load pigs to big trucks. Mr. Tran Hong Viet, a pig trader from Ha Tinh province, said: "Each week, I carry about 300 pigs from this market to Ha Tinh."

According to village leader Cu Van Thuc, around 5,000 pigs are traded at An Noi market daily. To have such a large number of pigs, An Noi’s pig traders had to go to many provinces to buy pigs from pig farms.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chi, a "pig hunter" in An Noi said: "Pig hunting is not easy. You will lose if you lack capital or relations with pig farms and pig traders. Each trip I use three large trucks to transport pigs but the pigs I have are not enough."

The pig market is packed from 1am until late afternoon. Road 975 is almost completely paralyzed because of the large number of trucks. The atmosphere is extremely lively, creating a vibrant unique pig market.

The future for Pig Street

Binh Luc district in Ha Nam province used to be a poor rural area when locals earned their living from the field. A few young people gave up farm work to become pig traders with little capital. Then good luck came when the neighboring commune of Ngoc Lu became a "giant pig farm."

The "golden opportunity" arrived and An Noi set up big pig farms to create the pig street. At present, many families in An Noi have cars and big houses thanks to pig trading.

Mr. Tran Xuan Vuong - Chairman of An Noi Commune, said: "Thanks to the big street that the life of local people is improved significantly. The number of workers at the pig street is up to thousands of people. An Noi people earn at least VND10 million ($500) per month."

Mr. Tran Van Quang, who has got rich from pig trading, said he has pursued this job for over ten years. It is a hard job but generates high income. Quang currently owns a big house and a car.

The biggest benefit from the pig street, according to Chairman Vuong, is that it creates jobs for the youth. An Noi commune is proud to have no drug or alcohol addicts.

Vuong confirmed to turn An Noi into the biggest pig trading site in the country. Currently, the pig market is located on Road 975 so it is not favorable for traders. Vuong said the pig market will be moved to a place of over 5.000m2 on the right bank of Bui River. He said it will be the most “beautiful” pig market in the north.

ANTD