I walked across Chao Anou Street from the centeral area of Vientiane to the west side.  It was a larger crossroads with traffic lights, where the traffic flow did not stop very often.  It was true that the number of traffic lights was increasing here in Vientiane, but only a few crossroads are provided with traffic lights even in those days.  Traffic lights were thus practically a kind of symbol of a busy crossroads.

A northwest area of Asean Street, a short distance away from that crossroads, was spotted with Chinese stores, including Chinese Market, which is locally called Talat Chin.  In a Thai-influenced city of Vientiane, what and how many Chinese stores were run in that area?  Moved by a curiosity, I walked around a district near Chinese Market in a hot and sunny afternoon.

Walked across Chao Anou St. from centeral Vientiane

Five minutes' walk along a quiet side street from the crossroads led me to Asean Street.  Heavy traffic was annoying, but Chinese characters that started to appear here and there along the street encouraged me to walk on further in some excitement.

Welcoming watching statue


Machine with a name print in Chinese characters

Stationery and hardware stores were seen along Asean Street.  Also stood was a modern local drug store.

A colonial-style stationery store

Not only in Laos, but also in countries where machines are distrubuted in a way so that they can be dismantled, I often see stores selling various machine parts and components.  Many of them are unidentifiable to me, posing a question in me whether store staff can tell which is which.

Many of the parts are unidentifiable for me

In the neighborhood of Chinese Market (Talat Chin), many shops show signs and displays written with Chinese characters.  Chinese Market, where Chinese products are sold, was indeed a noticeable buidling having a cylindrical shape, but it did not attract my attention so much, making me continue to walk on further.

A clothing boutique called 中国風 (Chinese style)


超市 means a supermarket, sometimes just a small general store


Name of the store is “China Supermarket”


周六福!!  Very similar to 周大福 in Hong Kong

When I turned left at the corner where a Chinese guesthouse stands, noise suddenly dropped, and the street was filled with a local Lao atmosphere.  That shopping street was dotted with a small number of Chinese shops.

Corner where a Chinese guesthouse stands


Yunnan Friendship Restaurant near the geusthouse


川云餐廳 means a Sichuan-Yunnan Restaurant


重慶飯店 (Chongqing Restaurant) are seen around the world

After about ten minutes' walk, I found a three-wheeler taxi (tuktuk) parked, with a head plate saying China Market.  Lao language there reads Talat Chin.

Tuktuk with a head plate saying China Market


Looking back the street I have come along

Ahead at the right of the street, in other words, ahead in the north direction, a roofed market appeared.  I wondered if this was Talat Nong Duang or not.  Since my Hobo Map showed that market at a slightly different location, I was not confident.  Anyway, I entered and found that it was quite a local Lao market, where clothing, meat, and vegetables are mainly sold.

One entrance of the market


Bags and shoes


Meat, meat, meat !

One store had attracted my attention on the way here.  They had piled tree branches at storefront, which triggered a question in me about their purpose.  When I passed in front of the store on my way back, a middle-aged woman was there making a new pile.  After some hesitation in disturbing her work, I consulted my Lao conversation book, and then asked her in Lao if the piled-up branches were for sale.  The woman quietly nodded with a smile.

Wood for sale (the woman is only a passer)

Sky was all clear after days of cloudy weather, and the hot and sunny afternoon was passing on slowly in Vientiane.

On the street