Shopping in Hanoi

shopping in Hanoi

Hanoi is a shopper's paradise highlighting the style the Vietnamese possess. The Old Quarter has numerous streets crammed with shops but those of particular interest are on Hang Gai and Hang Bong where there are a number of tailors and silk shops. The area close to Hoan Kiem Lake has some excellent shops including Hai Ba Trung Street. Dong Xuan Market on Dong Xuan Street is Hanoi's largest wholesale and retail centre and anything and everything can be found there. Off-the-peg clothing is always a good buy, but even better is to have clothes made up by one of the many tailors. There is always a good range of coloured silk to choose from. Hand-embroidered tablecloths and napkins are very popular. Items such as boxes and vases made from lacquerware are extremely good value. The hill tribes of the Central Highlands and the north of the country now sell colourful woven bags and clothing in the city. Good souvenirs are marble figurines and vases, ceramics from Bat Trang village, silk paintings and hand-painted greetings cards. Shops are generally open seven days a week from early morning until late evening.

BigC Supermarket


The Big C is a decent stop off for beef, veal, chicken, pork and stock bones. There's also a half decent fish stall. Those little white chaps happily swimming around above make passable fillets in fish 'n' chips at pieman towers. On a good day, the journey from tank to pan can take as little as thirty minutes. They bash them to death and fillet them for you in Big C. Tasty. Like most other big supermarkets in Saigon, Big C also serves Com Hop (takeaway grub). It's a similar idea to the Com Trua I blogged up a while back. In fact, it's exactly the same idea. Although, with all that fresh fish swimming around you might think the fish dishes are fine and on this take they were.





Hanoi is a great place for shopping.  There are lots of things to buy at very reasonable prices.  Most stores are concentrated in the ancient quarter.  For silk and other clothes, walk down Hang Gai.  The street in front of the big French cathedral, Nha Tho, also has some nice shops. 

Clothes


 * Song (5 Nha Tho)-my favorite with beautiful designs from Australian designer.   There's also a shop in Australia, and prices reflect that.
 * Khai Silk (121 Nguyen Thai Hoc)- very high quality silk and linen clothing with innovative designs and price tags to match.  There are several branches, but the headquarters with three floors has the widest selection. 
 * F Silk (40D Hang Manh)- also high quality with innovative designs, a little cheaper than Khai Silk.  Other branches in Hanoi Towers and on Hang Gai.
 * Thuy An (179 Hang Bong)- quality silk but few designs.  If you know what you want and just need the cloth and tailor, this place has reasonable prices.
 * Co (18 Nha Tho)- very good tailor for both men and women when you know what you want to get made.  Good work, but are not fast.

Crafts


 * Craft Link (43 Van Mieu)-not-for-profit store that serves as an outlet for ethnic minority products.
 * Lan Vietnamese Handicrafts (4b Yen The)- not-for-profit that provides education and training for young handicapped people. Specializes in quilts but also has other smaller items like hand-made cards and small dolls.
 * Craft Window (99 Nguyen Thai Hoc)- a few stores down from Khai Silk headquarters; has a nice selection of craft products.  They have another store two doors down with a wide selection of women's bags.