The 2025 Vietnam-China Lao Cai International Trade Fair opens on the windy and sunny border area, where each booth is like a small window revealing the economic life, culture and working spirit of hundreds of businesses. For visitors, this is not only a place to see – try – buy, but also an opportunity to understand more deeply how Vietnamese products step out into the world in a soft, open and very human commercial space.
A morning at the border gate – where the fair begins with a bustling crowd
Unlike the large fairs held in the city center, the Vietnam-China fair in Lao Cai has a special advantage: the border atmosphere. From early morning, people from Lao Cai city, Sa Pa, mountainous districts and even Chinese tourists flock to the fair area. The mixed voices of many regions, mixed with broken Chinese, create a liveliness that no indoor fair can have.
Visitors come in groups: traders, tourists, locals, young people who love to explore. Everyone has their own goals, but the common feeling is excitement. This year’s fair not only displays traditional agricultural and commercial products, but also expands to hundreds of technology, consumer, handicraft, fashion, processed food and OCOP products from all over Vietnam.
Each booth has a story
What makes the fair interesting is the regional diversity. Visitors do not just see a product, but also see the “path” of that product – who made it, how long it took, where it came from and what market it wants to go to next.
At the brocade booth of Ha Giang, viewers stopped for a long time to listen to the artisans talk about each pattern. At a booth of Nghe An, visitors jostled to taste the slices of pork sausage, then wrote down the address to order Tet gifts. A business from Binh Duong introduced a smart freeze dryer, and around there were always at least three or four groups of customers asking to buy equipment for processing agricultural products.
There are booths that create a very strong and simple visual effect, such as the owners of Quang Ninh squid cakes… very exciting and attractive
As a visitor, you will not feel like you are “going to a fair”, but like you are going through a miniature Vietnam, much more vivid than in books and newspapers.
Revisiting familiar brands through new storytelling
An interesting point of this year’s fair is the appearance of many brands that have accompanied Mind Connector on the journey of strategy – marketing – communication restructuring. When passing by these booths, visitors can easily recognize the more meticulousness in the display, the clearer brand story, and the spirit of “dare to go far” expressed right on the packaging and message.
A Central Highlands coffee brand that used to sell only domestically now offers roasted products with Chinese and English packaging. A mountain medicinal herbs company that used to sell only through traders now confidently introduces products with standardized active ingredients and testing certificates. A fruit processing facility in the West displays soft-dried products with long shelf life, suitable for export.
For visitors, seeing familiar brands appear with new looks creates a very interesting feeling: Vietnamese products are changing faster and more seriously.
The fair is a place where visitors can try, exchange and be curious
Unlike the standard exhibition model, the Vietnam-China fair in Lao Cai is “open”: visitors can try everything, from food to technology equipment. Duong Bui’s fruit stall is always crowded because everyone wants to try dried mango. At the agricultural technology products area, visitors can touch the smart irrigation control system. At the herbal stall, the aroma makes visitors unable to continue without asking questions.
Almost every business has a storyteller on site. Many stories are very real: how to make honey without losing its flavor, why herbal products need to be transparent about the growing area, or why a textile company in Nam Dinh decided to add a product line that meets export standards to Laos.
This experience makes visitors not only “see” the products, but also feel like they are stepping into the business’s professional journey.
Special features of the border fair: the rhythm of exchange between the two markets
Due to the characteristics of the Vietnam-China border trade, the fair witnessed many quick, concise, and very practical exchanges. A honey stall owner shared that in just one morning, he met three Chinese traders asking about output. The fruit and vegetable stall from Son La received special attention from Chinese customers because of its clean process and good prices. Many Chinese consumer products also attracted many Vietnamese customers to come and try them out, creating a very clear feeling of two-way trade.
For visitors, this is a rare opportunity to see how businesses from both countries talk, negotiate and find opportunities on the spot.
Ending a festival: the feeling of bringing not only bags of goods, but also stories
Leaving the fairground when the sun begins to cool down, visitors often bring a few bags of things: some dried cardamom, a few tea bags, a small brocade scarf, or a jar of honey. But what remains is not the objects, but the feeling of a day of “going – meeting – listening – understanding”.
The Vietnam-China Fair 2025 is not too flashy. It attracts with the honesty of the products, with the stories of the businesses’ labor and with the pace of life in the border area. For visitors, this is a rare experience: a journey between culture, commerce and people – close enough to touch and wide enough to contemplate.
