Hanoi citadel hosts tourist week

VietNamNet Birdge - A tourist week celebrating traditional trades and leading up to Hanoi’s 1,000th anniversary kicks off at the Thang Long Royal Citadel this on April 27. Located at 12 Nguyen Tri Phuong Street, Hanoi, organisers are working to bring back the cultural atmosphere of the old capital under traditional rooftops with traditional activities and an open-air fair.

To introduce traditional trades and talented craftsmen, the monument will be decorated with handicraft products such as artistic stones, pottery from Bat Trang village, paper lanterns and silk from the northern province of Ha Tay’s Van Phuc village. Visitors will get a chance to learn about solemn rituals of worship, as well as ancient Vietnamese houses including bamboo houses from northern Vietnam and houses from Hoi An’s Old Square.

Visitors are welcome to join in on a festival procession for ancestors of trades to kick off the opening day. Ceremonies will be full of cultural features such as a spiritual festival with a thousand candles and torches, a march by craftsmen around the Citadel and a gong performance from north-western ethnic groups along with drums from Doi Tam village in the northern province of Ha Nam.

The week will also launch a fine arts and handicrafts competition, under the theme: Hallmark in 1,000 years of Thang Long-Hanoi. Coinciding with the festival will be the launch of a new cultural centre celebrating handicrafts. The Hoa Lu Handicrafts Company will open the centre on April 28, entitled Hanoi – Pho Xua Nghe Cu (Hanoi – Old Streets and Crafts) at 31 Hang Gai street. The 500sq.m centre is traditionally designed to resemble the capital’s old streets. Here tourists can admire old photos of Hanoi, a city plan dating back to 1890 and discover the city’s typical cultural traits. The centre will sell a variety of souvenirs and handicrafts. The centre’s employees are all tour guides familiar with the old streets of Hanoi and handicrafts villages.

The week-long event will bring in tourism companies from the northern provinces of Thai Binh, Lao Cai, Bac Giang and Ha Tay advertising tours on the Hong (Red) River and trade villages on the outskirts of Hanoi. The event is being organised by the Hanoi Citadel Conservation Centre along with the Vietnam Association of Craft Villages.