The small city of Lao Cai - is close to the Chinese border. As the crow flies, the distance between the local market (Coc Leu) and the Chinese border is perhaps 300 meters. No wonder you can find many Chinese items in this covered market.
The Coc Leu district was traditionally the commercial district, which is located in the center of the city. It is therefore no wonder that here is the most famous market in the city, which you should not miss. The covered market has the same name: Coc Leu. You will also find about 700 stalls here.

Because the Coc Leu market is so close to the border, it is a border market. The market is also the largest commercial center in the city; in particular, this applies to the entire province of Lao Cai. Here visitors can admire and buy all kinds of Vietnamese and Chinese goods. There are various items, such as: handicrafts, paintings about the country of origin, etc. There are also stalls with clothes, shoes, food, herbal medicine or souvenirs. There are also essential household items for sale, such as TVs, CD players, smartmobile phones. Be careful when buying in the market, because it is difficult to determine the quality. You must determine in advance your ultimate price that you want to pay for the selected item.

There is everything for sale

A special feature of this market is that it is a 24-hour market. When the whole city falls asleep, there is a buzzing atmosphere here. Coc Leu's night market lasts from midnight to 5am, with the time between 3 and 3:30 am the busiest moment of the morning. Many light trucks drive on and off. They bring all kinds of goods to market early in the morning. All goods are ordered very quickly. The loading and unloading of the trucks happened quickly. Everything is neatly arranged and is invitingly ready for customers to look and buy. When everything is sold, other trucks are ready to load the purchased goods quickly and spread them over the different regions of the province. Various motorcycles and bicycles also appear, each transporting hundreds of kilos of vegetables elsewhere. All transactions on the market go very fast, most of the transactions are made by wholesalers.
The products are 20 to 30% cheaper on the night market than on the day market, but the cheapest are probably the vegetables and tubers. The vegetables, tubers, fruits are mostly grown in Vietnam, only a few varieties are imported from China. The main products come from the outskirts of the city, such as: Van Hoa, Thong Nhat, Ta Phoi, Hop Thanh ... and districts: Sapa, Bao Thang, Bat Xat ... Products from lowland provinces such as Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc, Yen Bai ... you can also find here.

Selling just outside the market
 

If you travel north without shopping in Lao Cai in the largest market, you are making a big mistake. In addition, before going to high-altitude areas like Sapa or Bac Ha ... it would be great if visitors would take a dip in the Coc Leu Market to prepare for their onward journey.

Map of Lao Cai with the market and the border