Dordoy Bazaar

 ( Bazaars ) 

Dordoy Bazaar (; ) is a large wholesale and retail market in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The largest bazaar in Kyrgyzstan, it is one of Asia's greatest public , comparable to Bangkok's Chatuchak Weekend Market or Tehran's Grand Bazaar. "'Made in China' moves into Russia's backyard". By Daniel Sershen. "The Christian Science Monitor", 4 January 2007.

Dordoy Bazaar is a major shopping and employment centre for the Bishkek metropolitan area and entire Chuy River Valley region. It is also one of the main entrepôts through which consumer goods from China arrive at shops and markets in Kazakhstan, Russia, and Uzbekistan. Uzbek-favoured Bishkek market catches fire (uznews.com, 9 April 2008) According to some economists, this re-export (the other center for which, targeting Uzbekistan, is the Karasuu Bazar at Kara-Suu, Osh Region) is one of two largest economic activities of Kyrgyzstan.Sebastien Peyrouse, Economic Aspects of China-Central Asia Rapprochment . Central Asia – Caucasus Institute, Silk Road Studies Program. 2007. p. 18.

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Location and organization The Dordoy market stretches for more than a kilometre on the north-eastern outskirts of Bishkek, near the bypass highway that skirts the city in the north. Legally, it is an agglomeration of several independent markets adjacent to each other. Since there are no fences, the borders between the markets are not particularly noticeable. According to a 2007 city atlas,"Атлас Бишкек Современный, 2007-2008" ("Modern Bishkek" Atlas, 2007-2008), OsOO "SMIK", 2007. No ISBN. the component markets are:

• Ak-Suu
• Vostok ('East')
• Sever ('North')
• Muras-Sport
• Alkanov i K ('Alkanov & Co.')
• Evropa ('Europe')
• Kerben
• Kitay ('China')
• Zhonghai (which formally is considered a separate market from Dordoy)

Most of the market is built of double-stacked shipping containers. Typically, the lower container is a shop, while the upper one provides storage. According to a 2005 newspaper report, there were 6,000 to 7,000 containers in the bazaar. , approximately 70,000 people work officially and unofficially in connection to Dordoy.Regine A. Spector, "Who Owns the Marketplace? Conflict over Property in Contemporary Kyrgyzstan". Prepared for the Graduate Student Conference, Department of Political Science, May 2, 2007. Berkeley, California, USA. ( Draft version )

The containers, organized in dozens of rows, form streets and plazas of a sort covering the equivalent of 160 rugby fields. Smaller buildings between the blocks of containers house restaurants, administrative offices, toilets, hotels, and other ancillary structures.

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History The market is said to date from 1992, its 15th anniversary being celebrated in 2007. In the view of journalists from the neighbouring Uzbekistan, one of the causes for the rise of Bishkek's Dordoy Bazaar was the decline of Uzbekistan's major wholesale markets. After the Uzbek government transferred Tashkent's huge Hippodrome Market to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior in 1998, increased police harassment of the trader resulted in Hippodrome losing its dominant position in the region. After its reconstruction in 2002–2003, Hippodrome, which once had 8,600 trading outlets and 18,000 traders, was succeeded by the much smaller Chilanzar goods market with 2,540 outlets. A similar story took place in Jizzakh, where in 2006 authorities closed the Dunyo Bozori (Uzbek for "World Market") marketplace (which had been established by Chinese traders) to replace it with the Abu Sahiy Nur shopping centre. As Uzbekistan's markets declined, purchasing by Uzbek buyers has shifted to Kyrgyzstan's Bishkek or Kara-Suu.

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Ownership and management

The Dordoy market hosts a variety of independent business entities:

• Alkan Bazary LLC
• Muras Sport LLC
• Dordoi Bazaary LLC
• Oberon LLC
• Junhai Dordoi LLC
• Almamatur LLC
• Dordoi Avtozapchasti LLC

In total, over 15 independent companies operate within the complex.

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The traders

Different sections of the markets specialize in various types of consumer goods, including clothing, shoes, furniture, electric and electronic equipment, toys, automotive supplies, construction materials, etc. While some kinds of groceries (e.g. factory-packaged canned goods or sweets) are sold at Dordoy, it is not a produce market. Occasional produce vendors are present merely to feed the vendors and customers.

Most of the goods sold at Dordoy arrive from China, with the second largest source (perhaps 30% of all imports) being Turkey. TURKEY’S CULTURAL AND ECONOMIC PRESENCE GROWS IN KYRGYZSTAN. Eurasia Daily Monitor, Volume 4, Issue 145. July 26, 2007. By: Erica Marat] One can also find clothing from Thailand and Europe, music CDs from Russia, and goods from many other countries in Eurasia, as well as a selection of local products.

Although many of the people working and shopping at the Bazaar speak Kyrgyz language, Russian language is the main language used in trade.

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Transportation

There is no rail access to the market: all goods enter and depart the bazaar by truck or car.

Two large plazas near the northern and southern ends of the market are connected by frequent marshrutka service with central Bishkek. From the northern plaza, minibuses also run to various points throughout Chüy Region, including Sokuluk, Kant, Tokmok, and Korday border crossing (on the Kazakhstan border). For the convenience of the "shuttle traders", charter buses run from Dordoy to several major cities in Kazakhstan and in Russia's Urals and Western Siberia.

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See also

• Area 506 Waterfront Container Village, a marketplace in New Brunswick, Canada that also utilizes shipping containers
• Bazaar
• Market (place)
• Retail
• Shipping container architecture
• Souq

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External links

• Isaac Rotschild, " Tour de Dordoi " - Photos and essay on Dordoi Bazaar. The Spektator Magazine, No. 3, Dec 2008/Jan 2009), pp. 20–22.
• Dordoy (Dordoi) map
• A Steel Caravanserai Booms on the Modern Silk Road

Categories: Bazaars, Retail Markets In Bishkek, Shopping Malls Established In 1992, Shipping Container Buildings And Structures

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