Hanoi: Vietnam’s high-octane capital of colonial echoes

In this video, we get a pre-Covid tour of the Vietnamese capital Hanoi, a city located in the country’s north, at the Red River delta, about 140km inland from the South China Sea.

Tracing its history back to the third century BCE, when a portion of the modern-day city served as the capital of the historic Vietnamese nation of Âu Lạc, Hanoi has been the capital of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam since 1976.

For the uninitiated, visiting Hanoi is a full-scale assault on the senses. Its crumbling, lemon-hued colonial architecture, swarms of buzzing motorbikes and delicate scents and tastes of delicious street food can truly sweep you off your feet. Traces of French and Chinese-occupied eras are everywhere.

Make your way to the original streets of the Old Quarter, and you’ll find farmers hawking their wares, city folk breakfasting on noodles, practising T’ai Chi at dawn or playing chess with venerable grandfathers.

Hanoi’s most important cultural and historical monuments are located in the Ba Dinh District, west of the Old Quarter, where the Ly kings established their Imperial City in the 11th century. The venerable Temple of Literature and the picturesque One Pillar Pagoda both date from this time.

Most impressive of the district’s colonial buildings is the residence of the governor-general of Indochina, now known as the Presidential Palace; part of its former gardens now house two great centres of pilgrimage – Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and Museum.

East of Ba Dinh Square, the Hanoi Citadel was the seat of power for all Vietnamese dynasties apart from the Nguyen dynasty. To the south of the Citadel stands the Cot Co Flag Tower, accessible via the Military History Museum.

Should you find yourself in Hanoi, consider the following for your itinerary:

• Old Quarter
• Dong Xuan Market
• Temple of Literature
• Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum and complex
• One Pillar Pagoda
• Tran Quoc Pagoda
• Vietnamese Women’s Museum
• Imperial Citadel of Thang Long
• National Museum of Vietnamese History
• Vietnam Museum of Ethnology
• Hoa Lo Prison Museum
• Long Bien Bridge
• Lotte Observation Deck
• Heritage House
• Bach Ma Temple
• Hai Ba Trung Temple
• Hoan Kiem Lake

View the original video here.

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