Last week I was back to Hanoi for a few autumn’s days – probably the best season of the year to be there. The crazily hot weather of summer has gone, and the famous north-easterly wind hasn’t brought the cold back to town yet. The days are dry and cool, and the sunshine has a particular shade of yellow that is both charming and poetic. It’s just perfect for a long walk around in a long-sleeve shirt and a jean.
Of course, Hoan Kiem lake and the whole old quarter surrounding it is still the very best of Hanoi. Here you can experience, not only the beautiful old houses (many were built by the French in the 1900s), but also the lifestyle of Hanoians - the people who are often considered both elegant and sensible: they are extremely rich, but they live very simply; they are well-educated, but they are not arrogant or contemptuous.
It's reflected in several things. One of the most obvious is the quality of their food - how delicate and delicious it all is. Searching on Google and you’ll easily find some highly recommended restaurants, each is famous for 1 particular dish: like a bowl of Thang noodle at 48 Cau Go street, or a portion of Hanoi-Style Grilled Pork and Vermicelli Noodles at 1 Hang Manh street, or, of course, the green sticky rice – a very unique food for the autumn taste of Hanoi. Trust me, sitting down on a plastic chair in the path of these small streets, looking at people walking or motorbiking, eating a portion of green sticky rice and drinking a cup of hot tea, guarantee it’s gonna be one of the most unique experiences you would ever have.
And, if you have sweet tooth, Hanoi will surely treat you well. Kem Trang Tien with its legendary Vanilla ice-cream corn, “Che 4 mua” at 4 Hang Can with Vietnamese special dissert – Che, and Paris Gâteaux with a variety of cakes in French style.
I guess that’s why I’m often considered too demanding and difficult in assessing the quality of food by my friends and acquaintances. Because after 6 years of living in Hanoi and loving this city with all my heart, I couldn’t help but inherit a very sensitive attitude towards food – Hanoians don’t eat much, the portion is often pretty small, but the taste must be unique and very properly carefully prepared.
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It's also reflected by their manner and soft speaking. Hanoians rarely raise their voice, they speak slowly, softly, enough for you to hear them, sometimes with a little attention. Pretty similar to the British people, the way they speak attracts people to their story, instead of demanding them to listen. And, as conversation is still highly valued here, many of them are master of story-telling, who will surely entertain you with their recall and reminiscence of the old Hanoi in this crazily fast-paced world.
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This city, this culture, has taught me so much, that I can’t help but feel proud whenever someone says to me that I have a vibe of Hanoi.
Hence, I would highly recommend it to you all. I hope one day in the future you will have a chance to visit Hanoi, and experience, probably, one of the most unique cities in the world, culturally speaking.
