The Hanoi of one hundred years ago
Through the highs and lows, parts of the capital remain, parts lost in vain.
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| At the heart of Hanoi lies Hoan Kiem Lake covering 12 hectares (30 acres), home to many of the capital’s attractions such as Turtle Tower, Ngoc Son Temple and The Huc Bridge, to name a few. |
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| The Huc (“the convergence of halo”) Bridge connecting the lakeside with Ngoc Son Temple didn’t boast a parapet in 1884 as it does these days. Temple-goers once overloaded the bridge and it collapsed. Today’s new one is reinforced with concrete. |
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| “Dong Kinh nghia thuc” square by Hoan Kiem Lake was the crossroads of many tram routes. The name “Dong Kinh nghia thuc” derives from a school on the nearby Hang Dao Street, which was established by the then patriotic intelligentsia of Vietnam. “Dong Kinh” was the name of Thang Long (Hanoi’s previous name) under the “Le So” dynasty (1428-1527) while “nghia thuc” means “teaching the chivalry”. |
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| Hanoi Opera House (now 1 Trang Tien Street) in front of the August Revolution Square. Built from 1901-1911 after the Palais Garnier, the older of Paris’s two opera houses, Hanoi Opera House has been a revered stage for many performances for the last 100 years. |
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| Hang Khay Street, one of 36 streets that make up Hanoi’s Old Quarter, was lined with street vendors. |
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| Godard Building - the then shopping mall for the French on Trang Tien Street. The construction of the building was a turning point for trade in Hanoi, which had previously featured only periodic markets and street vendors. After the establishment of Godard, the diversity of goods improved with exports from foreign countries like France and India, among others. In 1953, the building was sold to a businessman and has since had many owners. In 1960, the name Godard was scrapped to make way for a new name “Bach hoa tong hop” (The Department Store). In 2002, the store was renovated again and renamed Trade Center Trang Tien Plaza. |
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| This building at 10 Le Lai Street was completed in 1887, with two gates, one facing Hoan Kiem Lake, the other Paul Bert Garden (now Ly Thai To Garden), and acted as an administrative center which dealt with taxes, traffic and residency. It’s now Hanoi’s Department for Foreign Affairs. |
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| Frog Garden, (Dien Hong Garden in 1905), opposite the government’s guest house (the then Tonkin Palace). In 1901, the French erected a reservoir with a 3.5-meter stone podium surrounded by bronze frogs spilling water, hence the name. In 1954, the garden was renamed Dien Hong. |
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| The scene in front of Dong Xuan Market in 1910. This is still the biggest market in the Old Quarter area, with a history than can be traced back hundreds of years. At the end of nineteenth century, the French redesigned the market with five gated arches and five long French-style buildings. |
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Hang Co Station (now Hanoi Station), built by the French, opened in 1902, and remains the capital's railway hub. |
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| West Lake and Truc Bach Lake in the 20th century. West Lake is the biggest natural freshwater lake in Hanoi, spanning over 500 hectares (1,235 acres), and was a part of the old Red River before the re-routing. West Lake is also called Dam Dam, Xac Cao… Truc Bach was West Lake’s calmest part, where the fish converged. The residents near the lake built a small barrier separating Truc Bach with the rest of West Lake in order to make fishing easier. In the 17th century, the king ordered the barrier to be widened of the defense. It’s now named Thanh Nien Street. |
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| Bach Mai Airport was built in 1919 in fields to the south of the capital. |
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| The reservoir near Hang Dau Garden in 1911. The first water supply facility in Hanoi is now totally defunct. It was built in 1894 at the intersection of Hang Than, Hang Giang, Hang Luoc, Hang Dau, Quan Thanh and Phan Dinh Phung. |
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| Cua Bac (literally North Gate) in 1883, one of the five gates of the old Hanoi, now on Phan Dinh Phung Street. |
