One Thousand Years of Culture

Hanoi has an elegance, a grace, unlike any other city in Asia . It is a stately capital, an old grande dame whose worn beauty hints at untold stories - a secret past. It is a city that invites nostalgia, just as it invites questions: Who else has stopped beneath this spreading banyan tree? Who once lived in that proud colonial villa? Who lives there now?

In the Old Quarter Hanoi's rich past comes to life. Stroll down the ancient guild streets, where the wares on offer have remained unchanged for centuries: traditional medicines and herbs, brightly colored votive paper, bolts of finely spun silk, silver an1 jade jewellery. Ten centuries of culture and commerce are layered like paint, creating a vibrant mural of past and present. Here you will see the life of Hanoi: the women who pad past with baskets of bread perched on their heads; the flower vendors wheeling bicycles festooned with fresh-cut roses, mums and lilies; the brown-robed monks on their way to the pagoda.