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Sunday, March 11, 2012

Street hawkers (những gánh hàng rong)

Let's take a break from eating "street food" and think about what's behind the words "street hawker" or "gánh hàng rong"in Vietnamese.

English is not my mother tongue!
I don't feel what could be behind the word "hawker", or between the lines, except its meaning "a person who travels around selling goods, typically advertising them by shouting"

If we use Google translate "gánh hàng rong"means funnily "burden vendors"!
but ,meaningfully, burden, a heavy load!

Gánh hàng rong No 1: selling sweet tofu 
In Vietnamese "gánh hàng rong" is a group of three words, and each word has its meaning.

Gánh hàng rong No 2: selling different snacks from banana paper, rice cracker, small sponge cake...

Gánh: traditional carry tool includes a meter-long bamboo stick put on the shoulder and two baskets hung at two ends, the load on these baskets should be equal in order to keep the balance.  
Hàng: goods
Rong: as I guess, it could come from "rong ruổi": walk around, talk around...

Gánh hàng rong No 3: selling rice crackers, pop corn... 
Gánh hàng rong : traditional carry tool with goods...walking around!

Gánh hàng rong has been "humanized" and means a person who is selling goods on his or her traditional carry tool by walking, shouting around the streets.

Gánh hàng rong No 4: selling glutinous rice cake wrapped with coconut leaf, goose's  eggs
Gánh hàng rong in Vietnamese has been often associated with uneasy destiny, especially, woman or mother's destiny.

Gánh hàng rong No 5: selling "bánh tai yến" 
The goods they carries probably not a heavy load, but to live a hard life, to support family, children is a burden that they must overcome...

Gánh hàng rong No 6: selling cooked sweet potato, cassava, wax banana
Along with the image of woman living a hard life for family, gánh hàng rong still associated with the tradition which could be faded away in the future.

Gánh hàng rong No 7: selling corn sticky rice for nearly 50 years at the same place   
Gánh hàng rong is still an image which is closely linked with our childhood! 
We used to see, to buy stuff from them but do we remember their face, do we know where they come from? Usually, no!     

The last gánh hàng rong: selling favorite green mango and rice paper salad to school children! 
I finish this post with a song "Gánh hành rong", touching music and lyrics.
Hope I won't have a problem with the copyright!  




 

9 comments:

  1. Huu,
    Love this post, really takes me back to my childhood. I was born in Thủ Đức, but grew up in Saigon on Thủ Khoa Huân, District 1, until I was 16, and moved to the US. I had just recently went back to visit, first time in 20 years in 2010, then again last year, and as you said, a lot has changed since in Saigon, its more cosmopolitan now, crowded, polluted, noisy (which strangely enough, suits me as I used to live in New York City). But the one thing that immediately took me back to my childhood and reminded me of all the good times I had in VN, was the smell of Viet food, the taste o f it, and last but not least, the sound of it, which is what you wrote here. So thank you again for this article, and keep at it, I'll be sure to follow it closely.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Quan,
      Glad you found in my post something that brought you back to our childhood's memory!
      Yes, many changes. Some good things have gone forever!
      So what we can do ? To sit back to remember these good old days?
      Hope you had a great time in your last come back to Vietnam! Maybe another trip coming soon?
      Thank you for visiting my blog!
      All the best!

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Huu,
    I will definitely keep reading this blog and use it for reference next time my wife and I go back to VN (hopefully soon!) Btw, I think we have a mutual friend, Thanh Nhan. I actually found your blog from his facebook page. When I was a kid I used to hang out with the water polo team at CLB Lao Động, as my brother was part of the team, and Anh Thanh (aka Anh Be) was one of the players.

    Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi there,
      I didn't know that you know Thanh. We used to study French together at Idecaf in late 80s, but we lost contact for over 20 years! We just met again by chance last year! Time flies!
      Thank you again for your comment on my blog! Hope it could be useful for you and many other overseas Vietnamese!
      All the best!

      Delete
  4. Hi Mr Huu Nguien,
    I'm really impressived by your meaningful post, especially the explanation of "Gánh hàng rong" . I'm a voluntary tour guide of Saigon Hotpot Club. When I take foreign friends to visit HCMC, I rarely notice that they might be unclear about "Gánh hàng rong" who aren't only street hawkers but also mothers and sisters sacrificing their health and beauty for their family. This post reminded me to explain for them. Thanks for your post so much!
    Could we repost some of your articles, for example Gánh hàng rong and Bánh xèo on Saigon Hotpot's website with your name and source's blog in the footer? I really want to share these meaningful posts with my friends and tourists.
    Have a good day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Quyen,
      Thanks for your comments! Sure, you can use this post and banh xeo on your website, with the link back to my blog!
      Hope it could give your guests another look and a deeper feeling to our culture!
      All the best, Nguien

      Delete
  5. Thank you, Mr Nguien!
    Best wishes,
    Ngọc

    ReplyDelete
  6. Please Support Vietnamese Community check out www.viet-find.com

    ReplyDelete

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