Hanoi ... a scaffold sculpture created by Dao Anh Khanh.Credit: Julietta Jameson
This robust city's 1000-year anniversary was celebrated on the streets and in hearts and minds, writes Julietta Jameson.
THE dignity of the people of Hanoi may well be born of having been invaded so many times. From the Chinese to the Japanese to the French, with the Soviet influence and US allied troops at the doorstep thrown in for good measure, the people of the Vietnamese capital have seen them come and seen them go.
Still they are who they are. Sure, there's French architecture and bread and other remnants of influence but no one and nothing has changed nor, it seems, can change the Hanoian spirit - an almost aloof focus on living life on their terms.
It's not that you're unwelcome in this city but the people of Hanoi will just go about their business in the way they choose - there's none of the obsequiousness in this corner of Asia you might find in others.
That can be interesting for the tourist and at no time is it more so to me than when I am on a bicycle taxi tour of the Old Quarter. We have just set off from the Hilton Hanoi and entered the enormous, teeming roundabout, Bung Binh, in front of the city's Opera House when my driver, Mr Cheung, spies a plastic bag of goods, nature undetermined, on the road - no doubt having fallen off someone else's bike. He weaves his way across six lanes of already mad traffic, jumps off his pedals and walks through more oncoming chaos towards the bag, leaving me sitting stranded in the front carriage while he picks it up.
Cars, scooters, motorbikes, bicycles and other bike taxis toot their horns and weave around me with hair-raising margins.
Clearly, I live to tell the tale but it was touch and go for a while there.
When we finally get out of the melee and into a quieter street, Mr Cheung taps me on the shoulder, motions at my camera and offers his best smile. Yes, just another day in Hanoi for Mr Cheung.
Later, I'm in a private vehicle with a tourist guide, Cuong, who fought during what he calls the American War and we call the Vietnam War. He talks without malice of fighting Australians, then bursts proudly into anthems he sang during long marches in the time of hostilities. He pauses now and then to translate the most stirring lines.
Cuong has a great voice. But honestly? I find it a little confronting - not because I'm offended; I'm just more a "don't mention the war" type when travelling.
That's not the Hanoi way either, though. Here, history and the present are part of the one continuum and there's an acute cultural awareness that is part of the fabric of life. Combined with that Hanoian self-assurance, well, it's clear my sensitivities are not top of the agenda.
It's not surprising, then, how the city's 1000-year anniversary came and went on October 10 without the international hoopla you might expect in other places.
Hanoi became the capital of Vietnam in 1010 after King Ly Thai To ended 1000 years of Chinese rule. October 10 was chosen as the day to celebrate because it was also the date the capital was officially liberated from French colonial rule by Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary forces in 1954.
From October 1-10 this year, there were art exhibitions, folk performances and other cultural events along Hoan Kiem Lake, culminating in a lavish parade on the 10th. But, as a blogger for The Economist put it: "There are no more international tourists than usual, though. Somehow no one got round to inviting them."
That may be because the tourism industry is really only about 25 years old and because the government, though open and welcoming of capitalism, is communist - with all the difficulties of interacting with the West that go with that.
But it's also because the Hanoians constantly acknowledge all those things in their everyday lives. History is on the streets and in hearts and minds, not in dusty volumes, nor in special events.
Though the city is keen to move forward from the darkness of its most recent war, it remains a sum of its parts and past and that makes it wonderfully layered.
In today's Hanoi, street vendors sell "pho" noodle soup from big open-fired pots, just as they have for centuries, and women squat, selling baskets of vegetables, beside Louis Vuitton and Prada boutiques.
Gleaming BMWs and Mercedes cruise through the sea of bicycles and motor scooters, past hammer-and-sickle banners and retro posters extolling workers' values. Bike taxi drivers wear old army helmets with no irony.
As I pass the statue to the glory of the workers, near Lake Hoan Kiem, a group of Vietnamese mods line up their matching scooters and pose for a photo. No one seems to mind this young, cheeky acknowledgment.
While old quarters in so many parts of the world are gentrified, Hanoi's remains authentic and lived in. There are, of course, many hotels, backpacker joints, Western cafes and bars within it.
However, families still live in the dark, skinny multi-storey complexes that line the ancient centre's streets and, though real estate has become very expensive here, the majority of the stores remain grouped into 36 distinct streets of wares, as they long have been: the sandal street, the hat street, the silversmith street, the coffin street, for instance.
You can now find gorgeous, eclectic, upmarket shopping, particularly in the adjoining Hang Gai, Ly Quoc Su and Nha Tho streets, where Vietnamese designers display a funky, modern Asian aesthetic. It's a shopping experience that's more akin to New York's Greenwich Village than the Hanoi Old Quarter in its sophistication.
During the Vietnam War, there was only one bridge across the Red River in and out of the capital. Now they're building bridges and roads at a rate of knots. Market gardens, orchards and farmland ringing the city are fast being developed into housing. Urbanisation is in full force.
In the villages dedicated to craft in the outlying Red River Delta, business is booming, with traditional furniture, ceramics and silks being produced for the international market. And there is an increasingly important modern art scene in Hanoi.
Dao Anh Khanh is one of its leading lights and is determined the city's consciousness of its past will continue. "The people need to keep nice character, a beautiful heart as we develop," he says. "And we must never hide what is bad. Everywhere has good and bad.
"We must think about life right now and keep a beautiful heart."
Dao had his own celebration of Hanoi's 1000 years. His Tree of Life was a show of performance art, music, dance, video art and light along a section of dyke in Ngoc Thuy ward, Long Bien district and at the Dao Anh Khanh Studio. Three hundred performers expressed Dao's love of Hanoi on massive bamboo scaffolds he created for the event.
"We have lots of beautiful things here," he says.
"I am expressing the connection between Hanoi's people and nature, and the politics and situation in Vietnam." Much like the ancient city itself.
The writer was a guest of Vietnam Airlines and the Hilton Hanoi Opera.
Trip notes
Getting there
Vietnam Airlines has flights from Sydney on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays; from Melbourne on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. All flights are to Hanoi but go via Ho Chi Minh City, where you change to a domestic flight (1hr 50min). Fares available online or at your preferred travel agent, are priced from $850 plus taxes to HCM City or Hanoi. vietnamairlines.com.
Staying there
The Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel is at 1 Le Thanh Tong Street, Hoan Kiem District. It is centrally located with spacious rooms, excellent dining options and a lovely pool with Opera House backdrop. Rooms from $158 (advanced booking). +84 4 3933 0500, Hilton.com/Hanoi-Opera.
Touring there
The Hilton Hanoi Opera concierge can arrange private vehicle tours and bike taxi tours. Another useful resource is the Kangaroo Cafe in the Old Quarter, run by an expat Australian, which acts as an agency for tourism operators. You can be pretty much guaranteed good prices on guides and tours. It's at 18 Bao Khanh Street. +84 4 3828 9931; kangaroocafe.com.
See + do
Studio Anh Khanh is at 7, Land 462 Ngoc Thuy Road, Long Bien. +84 4 827 1216; daoanhkhanh.com.
More information
Five (other) things to do
1: Art Vietnam Gallery features contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, video, lacquer and prints. It's well worth a visit for the glimpse into the city's culture. 7 Nguyen Khac Nhu. +84 4 3927 2349; artvietnamgallery.com.
2: For a peek at the Old Quarter's architecture and a great place for a drink, try Cafe Nola. There's free Wi-Fi, a great ambience and cosy nooks to nestle into. 89 Ma May Street. +84 4 3926 4669.
3: The Hanoi Press Club has a lively rooftop bar where DJs play on some nights. The restaurant is good, too. 59 A Ly Thai To Street. +84 4 3934 0888; hanoi-pressclub.com.
4: For great shopping, head to the area around Hang Gai Street where there are lovely homewares and fashion. Locals love Tina Sparkles for pretty handbags and purses designed by Christina Lu. 17 Nha Tho Street. There is also a Khai Silk store in the area. Expect beautiful creations at very good prices. 96 Hang Gai Street.
5: Many make a beeline for the so-called Hanoi Hilton, which is the Hoa Lo Prison where prisoners of war were held, including 2008 US presidential hopeful John McCain (1 Hoa Lo Street, +84 4 824 6358). A less-muscular experience is the Vietnam Women's Museum, a poignant snapshot of the female role in Vietnamese history. 36 Ly Thuong Kiet Street. +84 4 825 9129.
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