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There's a growing trend in Ho Chi Minh City’s shopping scene of in-the-know locals and expats opening up enticing boutiques selling fair trade items, housewares, and very stylish locally made items, ranging from fashion to coffee cups.
Considered a traditional fine art of Vietnam, lacquerware is beautiful, long-lasting and—best of all for those with luggage weight restrictions—light. Most tourist shops and markets hawk the same kind of budget lacquerware. Higher quality items come at a price and are usually found in specialty shops. Some of the newer high-rise shopping complexes in downtown Ho Chi Minh City are home to high-end international brands, such as Versace, Jimmy Choo, and Prada. On the other end of the scale, markets offer a cheap and cheerful experience. They are generally open from sunrise until sunset, although some vendors just outside the markets stay open later.
By law, all transactions should be completed using dong, even if prices are quoted in U.S. dollars.
Set up by an NGO to assist women in remote villages in Vietnam and Cambodia, Mekong Quilts stocks beautifully handcrafted items made from papier mâché, silk, bamboo (including seven models of bamboo bicycles), and water hyacinth as well as beautifully handmade quilts and cushions.
Finely crafted Vietnamese lacquerware in traditional and modern designs, as well as a range of wooden products, are all made at Nga's factory in District 9.
The hand-embroidered silk "paintings" created here have to be seen to be believed. They come in a range of styles, from traditional Vietnamese scenes to photograph-quality portraits. The artists work on the top floor, and the lower floors showcase their work, together with a small range of men's and women's clothes and accessories (scarves, ties, and fans). There are other locations in Dalat and Hanoi.
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