“Asian Review 009” ― Hanoi part1
Strolling in Hanoi, Vietnam
As a second edition of the Asian Review series following Shanghai, I would like to introduce some thoughts of Hanoi, Vietnam. It might be rather casual, but I appreciate your understanding.
Most Japanese would recognize Vietnam as a small country, however, its land is long from north to south. The distance from Hanoi which is near the north end, to Ho Chi Minh City (HCM) which is near the south end, is over 1,600 km. Comparing this to Japan, it is the distance from Aomori city to Yamaguchi city via Tokyo. The area is 330,000 square kilometers, which is not much different from that of Japan which is 370,000 square kilometers.
The population of Vietnam is 92.7 million as of 2013 (ranked 14th in the world) and is increasing by 1.15% a year. Based on the estimate by the UN, the population as of 2050 is to be about 103.7 million, which will be very close to that of Japan.
The whole country of Vietnam is located south of the Tropic of Cancer, and the latitude is 21 ° at Hanoi and 10.5 ° at HCM. Regarding the climate, it is quite different between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the temperature is higher than 30 degrees throughout the year, however the sensible temperature is not so high if there is wind. In Hanoi, sometimes it gets hot and humid in the summer with the temperature exceeding 40 degrees. While in winter, sometimes the temperature falls to about 5 degrees and a down jacket is needed. The cold wind from the highlands such as Sapa in the west may be the cause. Some people say that the cold north wind from Siberia hits the Himalayas and flows to the east along the mountain range, and Hanoi is on the route of that cold air. Hong Kong also gets cold in winter.
Still there are many Japanese who prefer Hanoi to HCM, because the four seasons are clearer.
The city of Hanoi has a strong Asian color, among which there are interwoven Buddhist temples with kanji engraved on pillars, and small stylish western houses built in the French colonial period. While it is cluttered, it has a cityscape that somehow attracts people. Vietnamese coffee is famous, certainly, there are many cafés along the streets and people enjoy chatting from the daytime seated at the tables facing the sidewalks.
There are some trunk roads in the old city. However most of the roads are narrow with one lane for each direction, while some are one-way streets. During the rush hours, you can see bikes (most of them are motorcycles with prime mover), electric bicycles and so on running in flocks filling the width of the roads. Ten years ago, automobiles were occasionally mixed in the flock of bikes, but it is heard that the proportion of the automobiles have recently increased. While walking around the city, you can hear the restless sounds of horn from the motorcycles and cars. However, as a whole, time flows somewhat slowly.
Starting from this issue, I’d like to introduce Hanoi through some stories around bikes, streets, slow life, and etc. to provide a glimpse of the Vietnamese temperament, and recent urban developments.
