If you like to see minorities in their traditional costumes, go to the markets

Location : Bac Ha Sunday Market, Vietnam (22° 33' 0 N 104° 16' 0 E)
Date : 5 June 2005; 9.20am
Camera : Canon 300D with Sigma 70-200/f2.8

I always try to visit the local markets wherever I travelled to. One reason for doing so is to satisfy my stomach as quite often the market is where one finds most of the unique local snacks and food at very cheap prices. It is also a good place to see and understand what the local people eats, what’s special fresh produce for the region and so on. However one of the major reasons I visit such markets especially the all-important weekly (or whatever regularity) market/bazaar is to mingle and see the ethnic people in their traditional costumes. In most of the remoter places, there are no regular morning market but only once on a certain day of the week or month. During this day, people who lives in the nearby villages will congregate here to buy, sell, eat, gossip and meet up with friends. And ethnic people in remote places also normally still wears their traditional costume every day. So whether the Yi’s of Yunnan, Uighurs of Xinjiang or Kashmiris Muslims, Market Day is an important date in their weekly or monthly routine.