Tiger Tales

The Millennium City

As Hanoi celebrates its 1,000th birthday, we take an inside look at the city

PHOTOGRAPHY AARON JOEL SANTOS

As a boomtown with a rich and fascinating architectural heritage, Vietnam’s capital manages to be both exhilarating and enchanting. The spiritual and geographic centrepiece of Hanoi is Hoan Kiem Lake, the fabled body of water where in the 15th century, Emperor Le Thai To – in the manner of King Arthur – is said to have returned a charmed sword after leading his embattled troops to victory over Chinese Ming dynasty warriors. For the leg-weary sightseer, the lake offers a poetic stillness amid the city’s motorbike-powered mayhem. And it’s that incongruous mix of serenity and gusto which seems to be Hanoi’s trademark.

For more than a thousand years, Hanoi has been “bending with the wind” to resist foreign domination while at the same time absorbing overseas influences. So says the venerable William S. Logan in his book, Hanoi: A Biography of a City. One of the most clear-cut turning points in the modern urban development of Hanoi was the arrival of the French in 1873. As part of the colonial administration’s mission civilisatrice (civilising mission) French town planners drafted a blueprint replete with tree-lined avenues, a modern sanitation system, gaslights and an opera house in the style of Paris’s Palais Garnier. But there are plenty of other competing influences across a cityscape where socialist monuments, ancient Buddhist temples with strong Taoist and Confucian accents and, now, luxury shopping and office complexes vie for attention.

For many, battle-hardened Hanoi is the ultimate symbol of defiance. Naturally, both residents and visitors show an interest in the Vietnam-American war – out of sympathy or respect, if not admiration. Still, most people show little inclination to dwell on the conflict. This is a city that’s busy embracing the new. Kids make up over half the population – two-thirds are under the age of 35. Hanoi is an old soul with a youthful zing. And there may be no better summation of the uneasy balance between past and present than the sight of teenage break-dancers with backwards-baseball caps and sagging jeans doing their thing in front of the Statue of Lenin on Dien Bien Phu Street. Proof, perhaps, that history does irony.

Christina Yu, the Hong Kong designer and founder of Ipa-Nima, a Hanoi-based brand known for its ultra-funky handbags and accessories, first came here in 1995, when the city had a sleepier disposition. “Vietnam has moved from bicycles to Bentleys in the past 15 years,” says Yu. “Back then, most of the population still lived a simple life and did not have a real sense of money’s worth.”

That’s because at the time money was decidedly tight. A generation ago people were queuing up for rations of rice as the national economy floundered after a decades-long scrap for independence.

Now, well-heeled ladies stroll into opulent shopping malls to pick up a pair of Salvatore Ferragamo stilettos, while high-rolling businesspeople drive to golf courses in BMW 4WDs. Elsewhere, there are reminders that not all boats rise with the tide – the huckster flogging watermelons and the shoeshine boy pitching would-be customers at a roadside café. But Hanoi straddles these poles with ease. This city’s got grit as well as glamour but with very little tension on the surface.

While Hanoi’s elite have taken a financial quantum leap, much of the city’s population lives far more humbly. These extremes mean visitors can enjoy gratifyingly diverse experiences. You can lose yourself in the clamour of Dong Xuan Market before slurping down a bowl of noodles while perched on a plastic stool. Or you can browse through the latest collections from the city’s trendiest designers at Tan My Design on Hang Gai Street before enjoying afternoon tea or apéritifs at the iconic Sofitel Legend Metropole.

You can find plenty of high-end establishments serving ultra-refined versions of what family-run restaurants or street vendors sell. But for the best food, it’s always better to sit closer to the gutter on a plastic stool.Even the owners of the town’s swankier eateries seem to agree. The host of World Café Asia on Discovery Travel and Living, Hanoi-based restaurateur Bobby Chinn, describes the local food as “intimate and true. There’s no bullshit ‘foo foo’ food,” says Bobby. “From the street stall that has perfected one dish for generations to the street merchant who walks miles from a country village with her goods across a pole – selling on the streets until she sells out.”

It’s worth doing some research on street food before setting off with an empty stomach. No less an authority than author and chef Anthony Bourdain once said, “You don’t have to go looking for great food in Vietnam. Great food finds you”.