Mentioning Hanoi, people immediately thinks of a thousand-year cultural quintessence with the values which were recognized, honored and became the symbol of Vietnam. They are the thirty six antique streets, One-Pillar pagoda, Quoc Tu Giam Temple of literature, Hoan Kiem Lake, etc.
Monday, March 7, 2011
The youth of Hanoi today
The youth of Hanoi today…
Mentioning Hanoi, people immediately thinks of a thousand-year cultural quintessence with the values which were recognized, honored and became the symbol of Vietnam. They are the thirty six antique streets, One-Pillar pagoda, Quoc Tu Giam Temple of literature, Hoan Kiem Lake, etc. as well as traditional festivals, customs, antique villages’ regulations and the cuisine culture with hundreds of wonderful taste. However, beside the traditional values, the young generation in “The peaceful city” is forming new cultural values and helping deepen the Thang Long Hanoi cultural and human character.
* The sacred moment
One night in October, at 21 o’clock, hundreds of people who almost belong to the 7x, 8x and 9x generations, and foreign tourists gathered at Ba Dinh Square – the heart of Hanoi, where Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence founding the Democratic Republic of Vietnam – and concentrated on the team in spotlessly white suits stepping stately from Ho Chi Minh museum side to the flagpole to hold the flag-strike ceremony.
When the signature tune of the National anthem resounded strongly, it was noiseless at the wide Square. The anthem ended when the red flag with yellow star had been struck, folded neatly and laid formally in the tray. The team walked in measured tread to return to their starting position. This sacred moment was recorded with cameras or mobile phones. There was a young couple running after the team when they almost came back to the left of the museum just to photograph.
Guom Lake. Picture: Internet
It has become a familiar scene in Hanoi for 10 recent years. After dark, many Hanoi’s youngsters eagerly gather together at Ba Dinh Square. This person calls for another person, this group call for another one to watch the flag-strike ceremony. Directly witnessing the moment has become a part of their cultural life. “When looking at the national flag and singing the anthem with people around me, I’m so proud of our nation. I love our country, love Hanoi from these images” said Nguyen Hang Nga, a 21 years old student of Hanoi Open University. It was different to Nguyen Hai Yen, a 12 grade student living on Bach Mai street, Hai Ba Trung district because that was the first time she had watched the ceremony. Could not explain her feelings, all she knew was that it was the first time she had sung the anthem with indescribable feeling…
* Contemplating the capital from the middle of Hanoi
In the speedy life, Long Bien bridge has suddenly become an unexpected destination of Hanoi’s youngsters. Until when we standing on the bridge which went through three centuries, we are amazed by the density of people presenting at the two side edges of the bridge from the sunset until nightfall.
We received many different answers for the question “Why do you like sitting on Long Bien bridge?” Many people said that they liked standing on the side edge of the bridge to enjoy the sparkling city at night silently, to mix with the immense space of waterways together with the nature’s verdant in the Red river’s middle bank. They want to live more slowly to love their life more after eight hours of hard working and to get rid of daily jumbled worry. There were also many people like Tran Trung Dung, 27, living on Le Trong Tan Street, having driven onto Long Bien bridge to watch trains running across, listen to the rumble of the wheels. “From here, the space is very wide and not under compulsion of the walls any more. Moreover, at night, the bridge is like gold-inlaid by the streetlights so it seems to be prettier and more resplendent than in the daytime”, confided him.
However, to engaged couples in Hanoi, Long Bien bridge is also “a world” of peaceful and romantic moments, a good place for them to take picture eagerly. Like that, “do you want to go to the bridge?” – The first words of young people – has become a trend, a unique cultural feature of Hanoians.
* Finding feeling at the Opera-house
Young people in Hanoi often sit in front of the Opera-house to enjoy the sweet taste of Trang Tien ice-creams, the acrid taste of ice tea and to contemplate the streets, people and vehicles. Almost of these people are no longer interested in “drifting with” the urgent life; they want to sit leisurely in the middle of the sparkling capital and chat.
However, the one hundred year old beauty of the place which constructed in European classical architectural style is also an ideal place for Quach Ngoc, a student of the University of Industrial Arts to patronize to paint. Each time she works with a new topic, Quach Ngoc often drives there, listens to the sounds and enjoys the colors of life until her inspiration sublimates, her spirit gets cheery the most, and then she opens the Toile de lin and starts painting. Not just Ngoc, many artists also often come to this typical area to find inspiration. Nguyen Van Manh, 29, “photographer” of a Studio on Hang Bai Street said excitedly: “There is nothing more beautiful than photographing wedding fashion in front of the Opera-house. I have taken dozens of albums from here. This is really an ideal place for the emotion to overflow”.
Watching the flag-strike ceremony, contemplating the city at night from Long Bien Street or go to the Opera-house to talk, to have a heart-to-heart with other people or to find the emotion for creating are only three of many new features in the capital’s culture. That is also a way in which Hanoi’s youngsters express their love and reason for living for Hanoi in the face of society’s dark side. Is it true that Thang Long – Hanoi became everlasting thanks to those simple things?
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