Old Woman sales loterie tickets on th street
Hanoi s Old Quarter the 36 Streets The Old Quarter of Hanoi is probably the city s greatest asset from a tourism point of view However the adjective old is something of a misnomer for a European because only a small proportion of its buildings are more than a hundred years old In Vietnam and Asia in general the term has a different connotation Here what is old is not the building but the activities that are carried on in it On that basis the Old Quarter can claim a continuity stretching back to Hanoi s birth almost a thousand years ago Many centuries ago Hanoi relied upon the Red River as its primary trade route Small cargo boats would ply back and forth carrying goods and provisions The muddy breadth of the river made it difficult to land the cargo so a system of small canals was dug to allow boats access to the centre of the young city The various wharfs became associated with a particular commodity tin silver silk sailcloth and so on and merchants built their warehouses and workshops on the canal bank Much later the French colonists filled in the canals to create a network of 36 narrow streets that quickly acquired the name of the commodity traded there The names survive as do some of the original trades Hang Ma votive decorations Hang Gai Silk Street Hang Thiec Tin Street and Hang Dong Bronze Street Most however have taken up new commodities but still cluster together along a single street Hang Can once scales now stationary Hang Dau once oil now shoes Hang Buom once sailcloth now confectionary and wine and Thuoc Bac for example Architecturally the 36 Streets are a hotchpotch of artisans cottages tube houses so called after their long narrow design the result of a frontage tax colonial houses the occasional surviving merchants house built in wood Hoi An style and modern buildings of various shapes and sizes However it s commerce that draws the visitors as it has one throughout its long history The range of goods is amazing and it s a Mecca for souvenir hunters A
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Location: Vietnam
Photo credit: © Vietnam Photography / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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