36
Hà Nội Old Quarter · 36 phố phường
Every street sold one thing.
三 十 六 舖 坊
Five minutes over the footbridge from River Hideaway is the Old Quarter. For centuries each craft guild worked and sold from its own street, and named it after the trade. Hanoians still call it 36 phố phường, the thirty-six streets.
Hover or tap a sign to see what the street sold
One word to know
hàng
means goods.
Put it in front of a trade and you have the street: Hàng Bạc, silver; Hàng Gai, hemp; Hàng Muối, salt brought up the Red River by boat. Some streets still sell what their name says. Most have moved on, but the names stayed.
Ask us at the desk for a walking loop. A few we like:
- MorningHàng Bè market and the shophouses before the scooters fill the streets.
- Silver & tinHàng Bạc for jewellery, Hàng Thiếc where tinsmiths still hammer on the pavement.
- Paper & lanternsHàng Mã: votive paper all year, and a street of lanterns before Mid-Autumn.
- HerbsHàng Thuốc Bắc: drawers of roots, bark and dried herbs.