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Hanoi Places
of Interest
Vietnam has many interesting places to visit such as Ha Long Bay
in the North, the Cu Chi Tunnels in the South as well as large temples
and major cities.
puppets
Hanoi has been the capital of Vietnam for 800 years. It lies on the banks of the Red River, and is home to the first university in Vietnam, which was built in 1076. This city is surrounded by many tiny streets that form the old quarter. In this area it is possible to buy and barter for goods. Each street specialises in a certain product. In Hang Gai street, you go to have silk
clothes made, go to Trang Tien for books, and Hang Dao near the lake for sunglasses.
Hanoi still retains many buildings that show
the French influence. Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum which houses his embalmed
body is in the centre of the city. In a theatre in Hung Dau street
the famous Water puppets perform to packed houses every night. The
puppets are controlled by people behind screens using sticks under
water .It only costs 20,000 dong ($2.50 Australian) to go to
this world famous production.
Ho Chi Minh City
Area: 2,095.2 sq. km
Population: 5,730,700 habitants (2004)
Administrative divisions:
- Districts: District 1, District 2, District 3, District 4, District 5, District 6, District 7, District 8, District 9, District 10, District 11, District 12, Tan Binh, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, Thu Duc, Go Vap, Binh Tan,Tan Phu.
- Rural districts: Nha Be, Can Gio, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Binh Chanh.
Ethnic groups: Viet (Kinh), Hoa, Khmer, Cham...
Today, Ho Chi Minh City is the big tourism center in Vietnam, attracting a large of visitors
to Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City has various attractions as Ho Chi Minh Museum, formerly known as Dragon House Wharf, Cu Chi Tunnels, system of museums, theatres, cultural houses... Recently, many tourist areas are invested such as Thanh Da, Binh Quoi Village, Dam Sen Park, Saigon Water Park, Suoi Tien, Ky Hoa..., which draw numerous tourists.
Despite its quite recent past, Ho Chi Minh City nevertheless possesses various beautiful buildings, displaying a characteristic combination of Vietnamese, Chinese and European cultures. These include Nha Rong (Dragon House Wharf), Quoc To Temple (National Ancestors’ Temple), Xa Tay (Municipal Office), Ho Chi Minh Municipal Theatre as well as many pagodas and churches (Vinh Nghiem, Giac Vien, Giac Lam, Phung Son pagodas...). After more than 300 years of development, Ho Chi Minh City presents many ancient architectural constructions, famous vestiges and renowned sights. It is remarkable for its harmonious blending of traditional national values with northern and western cultural features.
Vietnam History Museum
Location: Vietnam History Museum is located at No. 1 Trang Tien Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi; behind the Hanoi Opera House.
Characteristic: Vietnam History Museum was founded in September 1958 and it contains a great deal of valuable objects, which reflect all the periods of Vietnamese history.
The museum is a beautiful architectural work.
It provides an area of 2,000m² for exhibition. On the
ground floor are theme rooms:
Prehistory, Vietnam from the Time of National Building
to the Tran Dynasty. The second floor features Vietnam from
the Ho Dynasty to the Nguyen Dynasty and contains a section on
Cham Culture.
Nearly 7,000 objects and documents depict vividly the long process
of development of the Vietnamese community, its undaunted and heroic
struggle for thousand years, from its early history up to the August
Revolution in 1945. The system of computers installed on the second
floor is intended for visitors to search for information effectively.
The exhibits provide systematic, scientific and reliable information
for those who want to understand and research on the history of Vietnam.
The museum is a tourist attraction for people inside and outside Vietnam
Hanoi Silk Shops and More
Most shopping for Hanoi silk, antiques and lacquerware is done along Hang Gai street and its extension, Hang Bong. Try Khai Silk (96 Hang Gai or 121 Nguyen Thai Hoc or at the Metropole Hotel outlet), F Silk (82 Hang Gai, fsilk@hn.vnn.vn) or Hadong Silk (102 Hang Gai). Khai Silk is a cosy hole-in-the-wall with helpful staff. A graceful ao-dai (pronounced "ow-zai") will set you back US$30-$70 - if you can fit into one. Vietnamese women are awfully svelte, which is how you get three or four on a single moped - and that's just on the handlebar. Fortunately for visitors, garment sizes do not reflect these vanishing waistlines. Business is directed at less-than-compact foreigners so large-size stock predominates. Alterations can be done in hours and a complete dress stitched in a day.
At Khai Silk (khaisilk@hn.vnn.vn) you'll find smart linen shirts for men starting at US$40 for new designs and raw silk shirts for US$30. At the Sofitel Metropole outlet, Khai Silk retails women's silk jackets at around US$50 and up. Most shops stay open almost 8am till 8pm so there's lots of time to rummage around - every day. Hadong Silk offers smart silk tops in vivid colours starting at US$20 with ao-dais from US$35. Silk cushion covers are upwards of USS$12.Other options in this vicinity include Kenly Silk (108 Hang Gai) where dreadfully chic Chanel lookalike black jackets with white piping start at US$40, Hien Silk (100 Hang Gai), My Trang Silk (52 Hang Gai) where fashionable silk table runners start at US$10, Hanoi Silk (77 Hang Bac Street), and Co (18 Nha Tho Street, conhatho@yahoo.com) that specialises in hand-stitched clothes for men and women and embroidered apparel.
From Hoan Kiem it is a five-minute stroll down Trang Tien
(pronounced "chang tee en") to the characterful Opera House
that dominates the much-photographed landmark square or, rather,
roundabout. Motorcycles buzz like hornets and of an evening a newlywed
couple will turn up to be immortalised in front of this gracious
building. Trang Tien is itself an interesting street
packed with a crop of funky art galleries and bookstores, should
you need one. A big, well-stocked bookshop is Thang Long
(55 Trang Tien). Or try the Bookshop (41 Trang
Tien). Close by is the Music Shop (though its Vietnamese
name is different, 29 Trang Tien Street). Here, in a small room
that doubles as a CD shop and motorbike parking lot, you'll find
DVD movies for 18,000 dong, innumerable music CDs
and pirated software for D10,000. For some reason, Vietnamese music
CDs are a tad more expensive at D40,000 or so.
Close to the Opera House is the delightful Chi Vang
store (17 Trang Tien) that stocks a pleasing collection of silk
embroidered fabrics put to different uses. Gauzy eye-catching wine
bottle presentation wraps are upwards of S$5, stylish linen bathrobes
US$100, and velvet blankets, should you be so inclined, US$230 up.
If you must have a touch of glam and wish to cruise the rarefied
environs of top-dollar Hanoi shopping, try the glitzy (by Hanoi
standards) Trang Tien Plaza, at the Hoan Kiem lake
end of the street. This is a polished, mall-style affair with jewellery,
perfumes, sunglasses, and handbags and the latest in international
designer fashions. Also here is L'Espace (24 Trang
Tien) run by the French Cultural Centre for exhibitions and music
recitals.
Hanoi Art Galleries and more
Art galleries are all the rage in Hanoi - for foreigners that is. Apartment walls everywhere from Hongkong to New York are groaning under the weight of inspired Vietnamese creations, and the oils-and-lacquer avalanche continues. A favourite is the Apricot Gallery (40B Hang Bong, tel: [84-4] 828- 8965, www.apricot-artvietnam.com). The gallery features the colourful impressionist Le Thahn Son, the vivid village scenes of Dao Hai Phong and Hong Viet Dung's shadowy figures emerging from pale gold backgrounds. A small, hideaway place near the Hilton is the Mai Gallery (3b Phan Huy Chu) run by none other than Mai herself. She stocks up-and-coming artists as well as the Hanoi Five Faces group which includes Tran Quang Huy's distinctive metallic female faces set in delicate murals. Mai has recently opened a gallery at 183 Hang Bong Street (tel: 828-5854) as well.
Oriental Gallery (93 Dinh Tien Hoang, tel: [84-4] 936-1428, next to Hoan Kiem Lake) run
by the lively and affable Bui Minh Nguyet is a large high-ceiling shop doing art and wooden chests. Minh Nguyet is an avid promoter of young artists and you will occasionally spot something completely different here, like small lacquer portraits by Kim Dung, large swirling text on faces by Tran Quang Huy, and an artist who specialises in producing revolutionary portraits of Lenin and Ho Chi Minh, entirely with Vietnamese postage stamps. If you're tongue-tied trying to pronounce all these names, flop into a comfy chair at Oriental and let Minh Nguyet talk you through the lot.
Several Trang Tien road art galleries, like Van, have gone with the arrival of the wrecking ball at the Dan Chu. Other Trang Tien options include Hanoi Studio (13 Trang Tien), the small Hanoi Art Gallery (16-36 Trang Tien) with Nguyen Minh Phuoc's ethereal monks walking up temple steps, the larger Hanoi Art Gallery (36 Trang Tien), and the Thanh Binh Gallery (25-27 Trang Tien). A one square metre Dinh Quan may start at around US$2,000, with a Thanh Son upwards of US$2,500-$3,000 for the same size. Also on Trang Tien, do stop at the incense-filled No. 19 that stocks wood and stone carvings and faux antiques. Prices have been climbing steadily in not-so-sleepy Hanoi so check in fast.
Other good choices elsewhere in the city include Tonkin
Gallery (47 Hang Hom Street), Linh Gallery
(13 Hang Gai, a sister gallery of Van), Green Palm Gallery
(110 Hang Gai, www.greenpalmgallery.com),
where a one square metre Minh Phuoc will start at US$1,800-$2,000,
Thang Long Gallery (41 Hang Gai, www.thanglongartgallery.com),
and Thanh Mai (64 Hang Gai) where a one square
metre lacquer-on-wood by Thanh Cuong who relentlessly produces water
buffalo portraits will set you back over US$4,000. Along the way
you will likely encounter Nguyen Thanh Binh's enormous output -
devoted almost entirely to paintings of schoolgirls in white against
gold backdrops. Dull but popular
Hanoi Opera House
Location: The Hanoi Opera House is situated on Le Thanh
Tong St., Hanoi; near the Red River and several hundreds meters
east of Hoan Kiem Lake.
Characteristics: It is an old theatre with French architecture and
typical Gothic and Mosaic characters reflected on the door domes
and the glassed room respectively.
For a long time, the Hanoi Opera House has been
a rendezvous for those who lovetheatrical performance and traditional
songs and music, symphonies, opera and classical opera. It is also
a tourist attraction for local and foreign visitors.
The Hanoi Opera House is renowned for its unique architecture and
good composition. It is furnished rationally and harmoniously. Since
its establishment, the Hanoi Opera House is the largest theatre in
Vietnam. Its construction started in 1901 and completed in 1911. Previously
the site was a big pond, adjacent to the city gate of Tay Long (also
called Tay Luong) of the ancient Thang Long Capital. The construction
met with many difficulties, because the foundations of the theatre
were built on the pond. Before building a concrete foundation, nearly
one metre thick, the pond was emptied and dredged, then 30,000 hard
bamboo stakes were placed on its bed.
The Hanoi Opera House is of the same architectural style as the Opera
House in France. Some foreign architects said that due to being built
nearly 300 years after the Paris Opera House, the Hanoi Opera House
avoids superfluous architectural details, which make it more magnificent
and attractive.
After nearly 100 years of operation, the theatre's equipment and adornments
became old and run down. In 1997, the theatre was repaired and modernized
under the management of two Vietnamese French architects, Ho Thieu
Tri and Hoang Phuc Sinh. The original architecture of the 3-storey
theatre has remained. The decorative designs on the ceiling, arches,
walls, and doors were renewed. The 3-metre-high stage and the audience's
hall, with 600 seats, were also modernized in conformity with international
standards. The theatre has been equipped with state-of-art facilities
and appliances, compatible for all types of artistic performances,
from folk music and songs, ballets and piano to classical opera, reformed
opera, Vietnamese operetta and drama, all made great impressions on
the audience. The Hanoi Opera House has also successfully organised
many large-scale international concerts.
The Hanoi Opera House is a worthy artistic centre and a cultural and
architectural relic of the capital Hanoi.
Hanoi Zoological Garden
Location: Hanoi Zoological Garden is on Cau Giay and Buoi
streets, Hanoi; it is located on the west side of
Hanoi center-city.
Characteristics: Hanoi Zoological Garden is the place where hundreds
of animals are exhibited.
Hanoi Zoological Garden opened its doors in May 1977. It covers a total area of 29ha, in which water is 6ha. There is also Bo Mountain, Voi Phuc Temple here. Voi Phuc Temple, meaning "prostrated elephant," was built during the Ly Dynasty to worship the Linh Lang deity.
Besides, Hanoi Zoological Garden has thousand of trees and flowers. It also features entertaining games such as driving carts, ball games, and electronic games; there is a bookshop and an outdoor stage for dancing.
Hanoi Young Pioneer Palace
Location: Hanoi Young Pioneer Palace is at 36 Ly Thai To St., Hanoi.
Characteristics: During the French domination period, the building was divided into two parts: the northern area was a kindergarten and the southern area was a French club. After Liberation Day in October 1954, the building became the Young Pioneer Center, a recreation center for children.
In 1973, the infrastructures were renovated
and upgraded with the assistance of the former Czechoslovakia. Today
the six-storey building features nearly 100 well-equipped rooms for
the practice and study of different subjects, including technology,
culture, and arts. There is also a library with thousands of books.
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