Discover interesting folk games in Hoi An Old Town - It is "Bai Choi"

Hi guys, long time no see. Today I come back here to introduce you an interesting thing that I discovered in Hoi An Old Town.

Recently, I started working at the hospital, I worked from 7am to 5pm at the hospital, sometimes I had a night shift schedule. When I got home, I was quite tired, I just wanted to rest, therefore, I don't have much time to write my blog here for a long time. I'm free on weekends, so I want to take that time to relax before entering the new work week. I and my girlfriend went to Hoi An Ancient Town by motorbike at 5pm. We enjoyed special foods here, we took some pictures of the scenery and we walked the old streets. It is really best way for me to relieve the pressure after working at hospital.

After we finished eating, we started walking around the old town, we suddenly heard music coming our way, so we moved closer to take a closer look. I suddenly realized that this place was playing Bai Choi, one of the famous folk games in Hoi An ancient town. I know this game before, but I haven't had a chance to play this game yet, so me and my girlfriend decided to join this game.

Before I introduce you in detail about these game parts, I will explain why this game is called "bai choi" to the best of my knowledge. The players sit on the hut, follow the show and check their card while artists sing traditional songs below.

We bought 2 different cards, the price of each card is 25,000VND, equivalent to 1 US Dollar. Vendors invite spectators to buy cards, the audience can buy as many cards as they want, unlimited. Once all the cards have been sold, the game will begin. As you can see, there are 3 different symbols on the card, if three symbols of player match the three symbols that the singer reads, then the player wins this game. Depending on the number of players, there will be a compatible winner. For example, the number of players is a lot, the reward will be from 2-3 slots. On the contrary, if there are few players, the reward is 1-2 slots.

Artists perform traditional songs, they sing continuously for about 15 minutes to read the name of the drawn card. They will find out the winner by reading the name of the last card in their hand. They performed very naturally and got along well, it's very interesting.

After each artist sings, they will announce a character on the card, if in case the card in your hand has that character, you will be given a yellow flag. After collecting all 3 yellow flags, you will be changed to a red flag, which means you have won this game and will receive a gift from the organizers.

In particular, after each sign is announced by the artist, there will be a girl holding a sign about that character and going around to let the audience know. After that, the girl will hang those boards on the same rope. Although I don't understand what the characters on it represent, I am very impressed with the strokes of those characters.

Besides the performing artists, it is indispensable for musicians to beat the drums and pull the lute, which makes the performance even more attractive and attractive. They looked extremely excited with the enthusiastic support of the audience.

The indispensable characters in today's game are the audience who can be locals, domestic tourists and even foreign tourists. Visitors mainly want to experience new cultures here, so they participate enthusiastically. Since this is my first time in this game, I am quite confused. However, after listening to the rules of the game from the organizers for a while, I also understood somewhat, it is not as difficult as I thought. They sit on the surrounding huts, some people sit on small chairs, even many people sit on mats on the ground to participate in this game. There are families, groups of friends participating in this game, and I captured a few moments here.

This is the moment they announce the winner of this round.

And I'm one of the lucky three to win this round, I'm so excited in this moment. We went up to the stage to receive an award given by the show, which is a lantern that is the symbol of Hoi An ancient town.

I also took advantage of taking a few moments before leaving. I spent a very happy time here today, and I share some new things with you, you can refer before going to Hoi An Town, I hope that it helps you one day.

Thank you for taking your time here. See you later!
Have a nice weekend!