Hanoi taste

Hanoi – once upon a time

Hanoi faces

A place must go with faces.

Early news

Like any cities around the world, Hanoi lives to become a sweet home to many people who were born or not born there, who were Vietnamese or foreigners.

Hanoi in Phai’s paintings

Hanoi has been an endless inspiration for generations of Vietnamese artists, poets and musicians.

Bui Xuan Phai (1920-1988) is one of them. The Vietnamese painter is famous for the paintings of Hanoi Old Quarter.

Green rice flakes – Hanoi taste

Com - a perfect autumn taste

For me, autumn is the finest season of the year. I love autumn simply because it brings about the quintessence of the earth and sky.

Com – green rice flakes or young sticky rice – is a delicate present the autumn grants generations of Hanoians. Its 3-plus milky sweetness, delicate fragrance, and freshness are too enticing to refuse.

Charming, Hanoi’s old villas

“Had we not been colonised by the French, we would not have such beautiful villas,” we, the young generations living in Hanoi, would sometimes speak of the French-styled old villas on Hanoi streets.

Frankly speaking, Hanoi looks much more charming partly due to these old buildings which are currently used as private houses or offices.

A day on Hanoi streets

 

Tube-house: Old Quarter’s typical feature

“Hanoi would not be Hanoi without its Old Quarter”, a foreigner wrote after his tour exploring the old town. S/he is absolutely right. The Old Quarter itself bears the most vivid historic ambiance of Hanoi.

In the previous post, I weaved through why the majority of streets in the Old Quarter were named hang: Hang Be, Hang Non, Hang Khoai, Hang Bong, Hang Luoc, Hang Ma, etc

Now I would like to explore another uniqueness of the Old Quarter: traditional tube houses.

Typical look of the old town. These narrow tube houes run back from the street

Hanoi: Old Quarter

Hang Vai is no longer selling cloths

In everyone’s lips, Hanoi makes its name as a place of 36 streets which constitute the Old Quarter.

Interestingly, up to two-thirds of the street names start with the word hang. Hang means merchandise or shop.

‘Hanoi in My Heart’

Hanoi is a land of peace. It stays in the heart of all those who chose to live and work there. It is a matter of fact.

For many foreigners who come to visit and fall in love with Hanoi, it is something sacred. Philippe Chaplain, chairman of France’s National Heritage League, is one.

Long Bien Bridge