GREAT WORLD MARKETS…EAST ASIA

The first thing I learned when I hit the road in 1975 was that the most interesting thing about travel was the people. The second thing I learned was that the best place to see the people was in the markets.

I’m so fond of markets, that I have been known to mount an entire expedition just to be able to attend one. Getting to the Tolkuchka Bazaar in Turkmenistan involved traveling half way around the world, jumping through the most complex set of bureaucratic hoops I’ve ever come up against, and then having to deal with the strangest country in the world and its bizarre citizens. In the end, it wasn’t worth it.

To see the Great Kashgar Market in Xinjiang Province, China, I had to fly 5 hours west from Beijing to Urumqi – the world’s most landlocked city. From there it was another 2 hour flight to Kashgar, an isolated Uyghur community buried deep in the Taklamakan Desert, not far from the border with Afghanistan. In this case, it definitely was worth it.

To get to the Floating Market of Banjarmasin, I had to fly all the way to Java, and then on to Kalimantan – the Indonesian part of the Island of Borneo. I then had to spend three nights in Banjarmasin – a filthy, sweltering city with nothing to recommend it. But, the Floating Market put anything I had seen in Thailand to shame.

Cajamarca, Peru involved flying two hours north of Lima – in exactly the opposite direction of that taken by most tourists. But this pristine and unspoiled city was a welcome change from tourist-inundated sites around Cuzco.

To see the Guambiano Indigenous Market in Sylvia, Colombia, I had to visit a country which many people consider dangerous. Not only that, but I had to fly to Popayan, a city which is located in Cauca Department – probably the most dangerous part of the country.

Getting to the Turmi Market in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley involved a 24 hour drive down the worst road you can imagine. But that will be the subject of another post.

So…you get the idea – I’m crazy about markets.

There are so many markets to cover, that I’ve decided to divide the post into several sections. I’ll start with East Asia.

JAPAN

The markets of Japan are some of the biggest and most spectacular in the world. Seafood is the main item on the agenda, and there is no bigger venue than Tokyo’s huge and iconic Tsukiji Fish Market. If you want to take in the famous Tuna Auction, a 4 AM departure from your hotel is recommended. 2,500 tons of fish worth more than $15.5 million dollars are sold at the market on a daily basis. An individual tuna recently sold for more than $600,000 dollars.

The question that you and everybody else must be asking at this point is how long can the ocean sustain this type of harvest. I’m afraid that I don’t have the answer to that question.

Tuna is, of course, not the only fish on offer.

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for a thousand years, and remains Japan’s cultural heart. It’s a beautiful city with enough attractions to keep one busy for several weeks.

The Nishiki Market in the old center is a typical Japanese affair – seafood everywhere. Many of the dishes are alien-appearing and, I’m sure that some of them appeal to only the most discerning Japanese palate.

Beautiful Kanazawa, on the North Coast of Honshu is seldom visited by Americans. The city really shouldn’t be missed – especially during Cherry Blossom Season.

Omi Cho Market in Kanazawa should be on every travelers list. The seafood is exotic with every species of fish, mollusk, and crustacean seemingly represented. And the samples of plastic food (sampuru) on display are unparalleled in my experience.

KOREA

Having visited Japan, I thought that I had already been to seafood heaven. That was until I made my second visit to Korea in April of 2015.

The Noryangjin Fish Market in Seoul is certainly the equal of any fish market in the world. Most of what’s on offer is still alive – with octopuses trying to escape, and shrimp flipping out of their baskets.

CHINA

China, of course, has markets to suit every taste and budget. Kashgar, in Xinjiang Province, is located so far to the west that it’s actually in Central Asia. This is the city of the Uyghur People, a Turkic group who are quite distinct from the Han Chinese. Kashgar is the site of a famous Sunday Market – quite unlike anything I had ever seen before. Getting there was not half the fun – a 5 hour flight on Air China to Urumqi – and then another 2 hours on Xinjiang Airlines, a carrier that is not likely to instill confidence in most Western travelers.

But, the market was spectacular – a scene that conjures up Marco Polo and Genghis Khan – a scene that no traveler who makes the effort to get there will ever forget.

Guizhou Province in West Central China has always been the country’s poorest province. But, what makes Guizhou interesting are its ethnic minorities who have changed little over the centuries. Minority groups such as this generally hold one large weekly market. The market serves two purposes – a site of commerce – and a meeting place for the people.

Rongjiang, a small town in Central Guizhou, is a busy marketplace on Sundays when hundreds of Miao and Dong People descend for a bargaining frenzy in their finest indigo jackets

Almost every village throughout Guizhou Province will have some sort of weekly market. Many markets take the form of spontaneous gatherings along the side of the road.

Yunnan Province, tucked away in China’s Southwest, has always been out of the mainstream. It’s an ethnically diverse province – home to half of China’s 56 recognized minority nationalities –  among them, the Naxi around Lijiang and the Bai in Dali. Markets in Yunnan are colorful affairs, attracting a variety of minority people, almost all of them in their striking native dress. One popular weekly market takes place in Sha Ping, not far from Dali in the western part of the province.

I had trouble deciding whether to include Tibet in this section. But, I figured that I’m not really trying to solve the world’s problems with this simple blog. I’m just trying to tell an interesting story, and this is where Tibet best fits in. Most of the shopping opportunities in Lhasa are tourist oriented – Tibetan trinkets, jewelry and the like.

All of the major cities along China’s Eastern Seaboard have their own, often huge, central markets. The market in Guangzhou is particularly notorious – known especially for the huge variety of exotic animals on offer. I was surprised to discover that the Central Market in Hong Kong was small, and something of a disappointment – hard to figure in one of the world’s great commercial centers. But, there are plenty of interesting smaller markets scattered around the city.

The Bird Market is particularly fascinating.

TAIWAN

Across the Taiwan Strait lies a much smaller place with an equally booming economy and a completely different take on Markets. Taiwan is famous for its Night Markets. I suppose that this has a lot to do with the weather. I was last in Taiwan in July of 2014 and have never really been in a more oppressive climate.

Fortunately, we were hunkered down at an upscale hotel and the Shilin Night Market was located directly across the street. Not only was this convenient for sightseeing, but the available street food was outstanding.

Our next stop will be Southeast Asia – with Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea.