Ben Thanh Market

At the end of March 1914, more than 100,000 people crowded into the heart of Saigon to celebrate a brand-new market hall. Above the main gate of the market stood a clock tower. The celebration went on for three full days, from March 28 to March 30. There were lion dances and circus troupes. When night fell, fireworks lit up a whole corner of the sky.

More than 110 years later, that clock tower still stands in the same place, above the South Gate of Bến Thành Market. The only difference is what lies beneath it now. Under the square in front of the market, some 32 meters down, electric trains glide quietly in and out of an underground station.

Two photographs, taken from the same spot. One has fireworks and lion dances. The other has trains running deep underfoot. The whole story of Bến Thành Market lies in the space between those two photographs.

But the name goes back further still, to a river landing.

Before the French arrived, a market already gathered on the bank of the Bến Nghé River. Nearby was a landing, where travelers came and went, and where soldiers stepped ashore on their way into the Gia Định Citadel. Bến means a river landing. Thành means a citadel. Put the two together, and they make Bến Thành. The name stayed with the market through all the years that followed, even after the market had moved far from the water.

The old market by the river did not have a quiet life. In 1870, it burned down. Two years later, people built a modest new market, with a wooden frame, a tiled roof and a floor paved with stone. By the early 20th century, that market had grown very run-down, so the French decided to move it somewhere else.

The spot chosen for the new market was one nobody would have expected. It was a muddy pond that people in old Saigon called the Bồ Rệt pond. The pond was filled in. In 1912, the contractors Brossard and Maupin began building, and by the end of March 1914 the market hall was finished. In those days, people still called it the New Market of Saigon.

Seen up close, the first photograph is full of detail. The new market had four large gates, facing east, west, south and north, along with 12 smaller gates. Inside, it was spacious, clean and airy, well suited to the heat of the south. It was built of reinforced concrete with wide spans, and it is still seen as a classic lesson in structural design. The South Gate is the main gate, where the three-faced clock tower looks down on the square.

In those days, the market sat in the middle of a busy transport hub. On either side of the market were stations for long-distance coaches, heading to the eastern and the western provinces of the south. Right in front of the market was a stand for horse carriages, full of the clip-clop of hooves and people calling out to one another. Across the square, in 1915, Saigon's new railway station opened, looking straight toward the South Gate. The site of the new market had in fact been chosen close to the railway line to Mỹ Tho, in the Mekong Delta.

In the early years, many of the traders inside were Indian or ethnic Chinese. Some families had a stall here from the very year the market opened, selling dried coconuts and pumpkins to Indian restaurants.

The open ground in front of the South Gate has changed its name several times. Under the French, it was called Market Square. Later, it took the name Diên Hồng Square. Today it is Quách Thị Trang Square, named after a Saigon schoolgirl. She lost her life right here during a protest by school and university students on August 25, 1963. The following year, a bust of her was put up on that very spot.

In 1965, a statue of a general on horseback was added at the center of the roundabout in front of the market. He was Trần Nguyên Hãn, a general of the 15th century.

In 1985, the market went through major repairs, but its original structure was kept as it was. Above its four gates are ceramic reliefs designed by the sculptor Lê Văn Mậu. They stand for the goods sold inside. To this day, the three-faced clock tower above the South Gate is seen as an unofficial symbol of Ho Chi Minh City.

Step inside, and the second photograph appears, full of color. More than 1,500 stalls stand side by side under the market roof. When the market turned 100, it had about 3,000 trading households. On an average day, it welcomed some 15,000 visitors. Calls to passing shoppers, haggling, laughter and chatter blend into a sound all its own.

When night falls, the market is still not ready to sleep. The night market lights up on two streets beside it, Lưu Văn Lang and Phan Bội Châu. Near the West Gate, the night food stalls lay out all sorts of dishes. There is hủ tiếu, bún bò and phở, then snails and bún riêu. Apart from the snails, these are all noodle dishes, usually served as soups.

The underground trains from the start of this story came much later. In 2014, the statue of General Trần Nguyên Hãn was moved elsewhere, to make room for the work site of Bến Thành station. In time, the statue of Quách Thị Trang was moved as well. On December 22, 2024, metro line number one, from Bến Thành to Suối Tiên, officially opened to passengers. Bến Thành station is one of the line's three underground stations, with four levels set deep below the ground.

From the same spot, the two photographs now begin to overlap. In the old days, the sounds in front of the South Gate were horses' hooves and train whistles. Now, beneath the South Gate, comes the sound of electric trains sliding by under the earth.

Above the South Gate stands the three-faced clock tower, still looking out over the square as it did when more than 100,000 people stood waiting for the fireworks. Below, far down, a train has just pulled into the station. And in between, the old market still opens its doors, loud with voices, as it has for more than a century.