A cabinet full of “antique” pottery in a shop on HCMC’s Le Cong Kieu Street, District 1

For shoppers who like to fossick for Asian antiques and unusual souvenirs, a stroll around Le Cong Kieu Street in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 1 will reveal lots of nooks and crannies to explore.

There is a huge variety of antiques and relics. Porcelain and pottery can be found at numbers 19, 21 and 23 on the street while numbers 34, 36, 38 and 40 deal in older, more religious artifacts like Gong or Khmer busts.

Number 15 and 36 stock wooden furniture in the ancient style. Most of the remaining shops in the street are dominated by lacquer pieces; especially Hoanh phi (horizontal lacquered board engraved with Chinese characters) and Cau doi khac go (wood panels inscribed with parallel sentences).

According to most city dwellers, Le Cong Kieu is the old “antique” street in HCMC, not because of its age but because of the history contained in its shops.

During a visit to Vietnam in 2000, the then US first lady Hillary Clinton stopped by to visit some of the antique shops on Le Cong Kieu Street, saying what a pleasure it was to explore.

According to Nhi, an antique shop owner, it is hard to distinguish the real antiques from replicas.

“Some customers just want to buy for fun but antiques collectors hunt high and low for the treasures they seek.”

Some of the replicas available are made in Bat Trang pottery town near Hanoi, Binh Dinh, Da Nang and Long An Province’s Duc Hue city Town and in China’s Jiangxi Province. It pays to be careful because only the very knowledgeable can tell the real stuff from the fakes.

Detch, an American backpacker said the street was a real adventure for him.

“There are many cool and unique ornaments here. I don’t even know the origin of this stuff, but they’ll make interesting gifts for my friends and folks back home,” Detch said.

Reported by Kim