Hanoi, an oasis in Asia's concrete jungle
HANOI- Nestled on the banks of the
muddy Red River lies one of Asia's most charming cities.
Once synonymous with war and suffering, Vietnam's
capital Hanoi still breathes the country's traumatic but
proud history.
Faded grey pagodas etched with Chinese charactors dot
the city's many picturesque lakes, a reminder that
Vietnam's giant northern neighbour once ruled this land
for 1,000 years.
Old men wearing striped pyjamas and green pith helmets
saunter down tree-lined boulevards, past an array of
ochre-coloured colonial buildings erected by the French
earlier this century.
Rounding off Vietnam's sometimes troubled contact with
foreign powers, the tangled fuselage from a downed B-52
American bomber sticks out from a pond in a residential
area.
This treasure trove of history, culture and architecture
combines with Hanoi's traditional street life of cyclo
drivers, sidewalk barbers and pavement pubs to give the
city a unique old-world feel that is a mere memory in
Asia's megacities.
Forget the traffic jams, chronic pollution and concrete
jungles of Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila or Seoul.
Hanoi, home to 2.5 million people, exudes charm.
``Life in Hanoi is very civilised and polite. As the heart of
the nation, the city is always exciting and cheerful,'' one
old man told Reuters after doing his morning tai chi
exercises by the edge of Hoan Kiem Lake in the city
centre.
Resident foreigners and tourists agree.
``Hanoi is a special place. What makes it special is the
people and the asthetics of the city, the architecture, the
streets and the trees,'' said Aaron Stopak, general
manager of a business publication in Vietnam.
TREASURED CULTURE
Jonathan Akerman, an Australian businessman, said the
Vietnamese had their own distinct national charactor but
had absorbed what they saw as appropriate from foreign
powers they had contact with, something clearly on
display in Hanoi.
``Hanoians seem to have maintained a level of
cheerfulness and politeness and...a sense of good taste in
their architecture that has perhaps been lost in other
Asian cities,'' said Akerman, who has lived in the capital
for more than four years.
One foreign power and former benefactor that Vietnam
had close contact with this century, Russia, thankfully left
only a few Stalinist eyesores.
Nevertheless, some parts of Hanoi remain drab, although
at least not many colonial relics have been pulled down
and only several glass-encased skyscrapers have
sprouted.
SIMPLE BUT NO LONGER SLEEPY
Hanoi, which means inner river, traces its past back
thousands of years. In 1010 it became the capital of Dai
Co Viet, the previous name of Vietnam, and has been
known as Hanoi since 1831.
While no longer sleepy -- economic reforms adopted in
the late 1980s have injected the city with serious bustle --
residents of Hanoi seem to have time on their hands, a
sense that family and friends take precedence over
anything else.
Lifestyles are simple. The focus is the family, the market
or street, and you see it everywhere.
At dawn boys take over key roads to play soccer or
badminton.
Around Hoan Kiem Lake, hundreds of old men and
women throng the water's edge as the sun rises to
practice tai chi.
Crowds congregate at street cafes for tasty Vietnamese
fare, crusty French-style baguettes or the one thing that
vies for Hanoians passion with soccer -- pho, a traditional
soup enriched with chicken, beef or pork.
At night, groups of young boys and girls ride bicycles four
or five abreast around Hoan Kiem Lake, where the Turtle
Tower (Pagoda) sits on a tiny islet, tastefully lit up.
Even Vietnam's economic reforms have added to Hanoi's
charm, especially in the Old Quarter, a warren of 36
twisting alleys named after the product predominantly sold
along each street.
There is Tin St, Silk St, Onion St and Fermented Fish St,
where merchants sell their wares.
Despite economic reforms, Hanoi, like the whole nation, is
still poor. Yet Hanoians carry themselves with greater
dignity than their annual per capita incomes of $600 would
suggest.
Beggars usually make only a cursory request for money,
unlike their crafty cousins in southern Ho Chi Minh City,
formally Saigon, who grab your leg and refuse to let go.
STRONG SENSE OF HISTORY
Indeed, while doing business takes centre stage in Ho Chi
Minh City, people in Hanoi see themselves as more
learned, acutely aware of the nation's history and culture.
Nowhere is this more apparent than at the Temple of
Literature, the cultural heart of Vietnam.
Founded around 1070 and dedicated to Confucius, the
grounds of the Temple of Literature became home to
Vietnam's first university several years later. Today it's a
haven for tourists and locals, who marvel at Chinese
inscriptions on scrolls.
Vietnam might have finally thrown off 1,000 years of
Chinese rule around 938, but China's influence over
culture, traditions and language remained constant in the
centuries to follow.
One aspect of life in Hanoi that could use some steadying
influence is the roads. While there is none of the gridlock
that bedevils Bangkok, the streets can prove a handful.
Drivers with seemingly little road experience get behind
the wheel of lumbering Soviet-built trucks, scattering
motorbikes, cyclos and pedestrians alike.
Also competing for space are Chinese-made army jeeps,
Toyota Land Cruisers and the odd buffalo, perhaps an
indication the past will remain the present in Hanoi for
some time to come.
By Dean Yates - Reuters - September 10, 1998.
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