Where's The Beauty Of The Old Quarter

When talking about Hanoi, people mention the beauty of the 36 classic streets with 1000 years of history. Located between Returned Sword Lake and Long Bien Bridge, these streets start with the word Hang, which means merchandise or shop, and its named for a product or service. No matter how tall and skinny a building is in the old quarter, it seems that there is always room for one more storey. This is real Viet Nam can't be seen anywhere else in the world.

Nowadays, people use its beauty and history to do business. You can hardly walk on the pavement because people are using it for their own business and motorbike parking on the street which is not very good or safe for visitors. Street police wander around shouting loudly to whoever leaves their motorbike in the wrong place. All these things can make Hanoi difficult to live in at times.

There are big markets in Hanoi but also there are thousands of people from the countryside also doing their own business by putting their stuff on bicycles or walking with stuff on their shoulders or even on their heads. The police try to stop this kind of trading constantly but it still happens and looks like it will never stop. But actually, this is the only way they can earn some money for themselves and send it home to help their family. It's also fun to watch sometimes, but sometimes, it's annoying because they keep asking tourists to buy from them or take photos then by some fruit from them which is not really nice.

Any corner can be a small market where a few people sit next to each other, selling few flowers, pets or even just some candies. Where are all the traditional streets which sell their own products? There are not many of them still around such as Hang Ma streets or Lan Ong street where you can smell the Chinese medicine. Why don't Vietnamese try to preserve the beauty of our great traditions and history?