Hanoi City

Hanoi, literally the “city between the rivers”, is the capital and second biggest city of Viet Nam. The historical Old Town, the colonial French Quarter, ancient temples of more than thousand years of age and various scenic lakes and landmarks make up one of the most fascinating cities of Southeast Asia, with the identity of traditional Vietnamese culture and blending the influences of eastern and western culture enriches the vibrant Vietnamese culture.

The compact city centre is bordered by the Red River (Song Hong) to the east as well as to the north and a railway line to the west with the Hoan Kiem Lake nowadays being its focal point of public life and an excellent point of orientation. North of the lake lies Hanoi’s historic heart, the Old Quarter (Phố Cổ Hà Nội). Most of the street names still originate from the 13th century when every guild had its own street, usually called “Hàng” meaning “merchandise” followed by the name of the product, which is produced or sold there. Since at that time the tax depended on the width of the house frontage, the area is famous for its so-called tube houses, buildings with narrow frontages of two to three metres with a length of 20 to 60 metres.

The city’s most prominent sights include the Temple of Literature (Văn Miếu), site of the oldest university in Vietnam dating back to 1070, the One-Pillar Pagoda (Chùa Một Cột), one of Viet Nam’s most iconic temples, the Flag Tower of Hanoi (Cột cờ Hà Nội), one of the few remains of the old Hanoi Citadel and one of the symbols of the city and many museums. Hanoi’s narrow and crowded streets filled with various exotic scents, hawkers weaving through motorbikes and cyclos overloaded with fruits, livestock as well as human cargo create this unique fusion of old and new making it a reflection of the rapid changes the country is recently going through. There’s no better way of exploring this spirit of Hanoi than wandering around the streets, soaking up its sights, sounds and smells.