Dinh Tien Hoang Street
Hanoi is famous for the name “Hanoi 36 Streets” in the old time. Nowadays, although it has changed but that name is still remained. Dinh Tien Hoang Street is one of them. It was called after the name of the king Dinh Tien Hoang, the national hero whose real name is Dinh Bo Linh (924-979). His hometown is located in Hoa Lu cave, Dai Hoang town (now Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province) and he was an excellent people when he was a child. Matured at the time of chaos of warlords around the country, Dinh Bo Linh gathered the people to conquer 12 warlords and gained the reunification for the nation. In 986, Dinh Bo Linh proclaimed Emperor, named the country Dai Co Viet, chose Hoa Lu as the capital and continued strengthening national integrity, built a solid government and powerful military served as the basis for the victory of the war against the Song later under the control of Le Hoan. Dinh Bo Linh Street has a length of about 2 km running around the edge of Hoan Kiem Lake. One side of the street borders Hang Khay and Trang Tien Street and the other is adjacent to Le Thai To Street. Dinh Tien Hoang Street is one of the most beautiful streets of Hanoi. One side is the Hoan Kiem Lake including Turtle Tower which contains many cultural and historical values, Ngoc Son temple connected to the street by The Huc Bridge along with flower gardens. One side is the flower garden, a location of Ly Thai To monument and the centers of the capital which make Dinh Tien Hoang Street become one of the tourist streets and most popular walking streets in Hanoi with the most beautiful space ini. Along the sidewalk of Dinh Tien Hoang Street is the green space with gardens, grass, benches, rockery … and the small walkway for pedestrians. Nowadays, it is the street for pedestrians during the weekends from Friday to Sunday. Dinh Tien Hoang Street can be seen as one of the most civilized tourist streets of the capital.
Dinh Le Street
Dinh Le Street is 200 long; from Ngo Quyen Street to Dinh Tien Hoang Street, running beside Hanoi Post Office. Dinh Le was the stream next to the Ngu Long pavilion under the reign of Le – Trinh where Bao An pagoda was constructed later. Until the French colonial, the pagoda was demolished to build post office instead. The area of Dinh Le Street was belong to the land of Hau Lau village, Huu Tuc, Tho Xuong old district and today it belongs Trang Tien Street in Hoan Kiem District. Under the time of French colonial, the street was called Phurét (rue Fourès). Then, Dinh Le Street was named after the name of a character in Vietnam history. Dinh Le (? -1427) is the older brother of Dinh Liet, nephew of Le Loi. Dinh Le came from Tho Xuan District, Thanh Hoa province. When the country was invaded by Ming dynasty, he participated in Lam Son revolutionary, gained several big victories in Kha Luu, Dien Chau, Tot Dong – Chuc Dong. He was captured and killed in a battle with the Ming enemy in Mi Dong (Hoang Mai) on May 4-1427. Dinh Le Street is just a small street in the center of Hanoi, near Hoan Kiem Lake. However, in terms of name, Dinh Le Street is not less than the other main streets in the capital. For a long time, it has become a familiar place for the “bookworm” in the land of capital. With thousands of books of all kinds, Dinh Le Street is considered the bookstore of Hanoi, where visitors can find books a long time ago on any topic. Dinh Le is always busy with a huge number of people buying books. Guests who purchase and view books are at all of ages and classes from students to seniors. The high-school kids and students buy books to learn new knowledge; fathers, mothers, buy books for their children with the hope to help children increase knowledge. The cookbook, novels for women, romantic stories or useful advice for those loving couple … .All can be found on this small street. In the past, this place had only sidewalk bookstores, after a long gradual development, people of the capital has called this place as the street’s books. This street not only attracts customers by a large number but also by a variety of topics. Visitors can find in any store with titles such as Vietnam literature, foreign literature, life science, language or textbooks. In particular, many good books which were no longer reprinted many years ago can be found here.
Ho Hoan Kiem Street
In Hanoi, the streets which are not more than 100 meters long are many. They can be listed as Nguyen Xi Street, Nguyen Trung Man, Dong Mac, Dong Thai, Cho Gao … In particular, the “winner” of the short streets is Ho Hoan Kiem Street. Some folk called this street as Hang Che and it was named Philharmonique Street under French colonial. Until 1945, this street was renamed Ho Hoan Kiem. With only 52 meters long, the name of the shortest street in Hanoi evokes both strange and familiar feeling. It is familiar as it coincides with another name of Sword Lake located right opposite, which was a symbol of Hanoi. On the other hand, it is strange because the pedestrians think that the street in the area of Hoan Kiem Lake is just a short road to go from the Cau Go street to Dinh Tien Hoang street. Not only the shortest, Ho Hoan Kiem street is also very unusual street because it has only a few houses on one side while some on the other side of the street are the houses in Dinh Tien Hoang Street or Cau Go street. Although it is as long as the distance between 2 lampposts, Ho Hoan Kiem is home to many famous street foods of Hanoi capital. The first dish that has to mention is dried beef with papaya and peanuts. Not only young people today like to eat this dish in the short street but for a long time, it has been so familiar to many people of Hanoi. In addition to the dried beef mixture, the sidewalk stores on Ho Hoan Kiem street also serve spring rolls, clear flour cake, fried fermented pork rolls to satisfy diners. Spring rolls are similar to dried beef mixture. The only difference is that papayas, carrots, dried beef are rolled up with girdle-cake shell, and eat with sweet and sour fish sauce instead of mixing in small plates. For those who want to enjoy the spring rolls, this is not a bad address. Ho Hoan Kiem street is located right in the heart of Old Quarter, therefore, if visitors have the opportunity to walk around Sword Lake on Dinh Tien Hoang street or visit night market around area of Cau Go, just a little attention, you will find immediately the street which is named the shortest street of Hanoi nestled under high house ranges. Do not hesitate, stop once to taste street food here, visitors will have to go back several times for sure.
