visit shanango market at night: feel the "flavor of fireworks" among all kinds of people
2024-09-07
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china news service, phnom penh, september 7, title: night visit to sanango market: feel the "flavor of fireworks" among all kinds of people
author: yang qiang wang fuyan
after 10:30 pm, the sanam ko market on the side of phnom penh road 217 is bustling with people, just like daytime. this is the largest fruit and vegetable wholesale market in the cambodian capital, with neatly stacked fresh vegetables and fruits of all colors on both sides of the road, which look particularly fresh and fragrant under the fluorescent lights.
sanam co market is busiest from 10pm to 4am or 5am the next day. merchants from all over cambodia and even from neighboring countries bring fresh fruits and vegetables here for centralized sale at night. many restaurants and ordinary families also come to sanam co market to buy ingredients at this time. it is the "vegetable basket" and "orchard" of phnom penh residents.
a reporter from china news service recently visited shanange market. as it was still early, vendors did not seem to be in normal business mode, and they were more casual with individual customers. the market was full of different things, with vehicles loaded with fruits and vegetables arriving from time to time. some were busy unloading goods, while others took a rest at the stalls.
a beef stall at sanam market in phnom penh in september 2024. photo by wang fuyan
madi and her family sell beef at the entrance of shanango market from a mobile stall made of motorcycles. she is very quick and efficient, and cuts the whole piece of beef clean and beautiful in an instant. the stall of madi is full of customers, most of whom are regular customers who come to her stall every night to buy beef regardless of rain or shine.
when she was a little girl, madi and her family have been selling beef at shanango market for 24 years. now she has taken over the stall, handling the beef, bargaining, and calculating the bills with ease. madi opens the stall on time at 10:30 every night and continues until 6 am the next morning. she sits cross-legged at the stall, while her 5-year-old son lies in a small hammock behind him, playing with his mobile phone.
jeff, an indian, would come to this market every now and then to buy food. he said that here he could buy all kinds of vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry, eggs and meat needed for daily life, which were fresh and affordable. moreover, during the shopping process, he had the opportunity to chat and communicate with people from all over the world, which was also a very wonderful experience.
a fruit wholesale stall at sanam market in phnom penh in september 2024. photo by wang fuyan
there is a special group of workers in the shanango market. they push small carts and follow their employers to buy things. at the end, they push the things they bought to their employers' carts to earn a meager income. punong, who is in his 40s, is one of them. he has been a "pusher" in the market for more than 10 years. because he knows a little chinese, he sometimes helps buyers and sellers to translate.
"chinese people often come to this market for wholesale and purchase. knowing chinese sometimes gives my business a more competitive advantage." punong said that many people in cambodia can speak chinese, and some stall owners in the sanam co market are also learning chinese.
chinese owner zhang tao runs a specialty skewers hotpot restaurant in phnom penh. one of his secrets is to go to sanam co market to replenish supplies after closing at midnight every day to ensure the freshness of the ingredients. he said that the prices here are more affordable than home delivery, and many chinese restaurants choose to purchase from sanam co market.
walking into phnom penh's sanam market, you can see all kinds of people here. from the busy figures and tired smiles of the vendors, you can feel the pure and authentic "flavor of fireworks in the world". (end)
