Hang Bac (bạc) is considered the most expensive street among the 36 famous old streets in Hanoi. This place is also the cradle of jewelry trading in the city with many interesting historical stories.
Hanoi does not have a “Hang Vang" street, the most luxurious is Hang Bac and then Hang Dong, Hang Tin…; but despite this, Hang Bac Street now has nothing short of gold and of course there is still a lot of silver – a precious metal that identifies the street.
Hang Bac Street is 280m long and 6.5m wide. From the end of Hang Mu street – Ma May junction, running through the intersection with Ta Hien – Dinh Liet street, to the boundary of Hang Ngang street and Hang Dao street
Now in the territory of Hang Bac ward, Hoan Kiem district.
Previously, Hang Bac Street had three different industries: compressed silver casting, jewelry and money exchange. The people who worked in the silver casting profession were all people from Trau Khe village (now in Binh Giang district, Hai Duong province). Because compressed silver was used as currency in ancient times. And this privilege was brought to the people of Trau Khe by Luu Xuan Tin. But in the two Hang Bac communal houses, they do not worship him, but Hien Vien, a mythical figure considered a “polytechnic group", that is, a person born in a hundred professions! At the end of the nineteenth century, due to the large increase in the number of Trau Khe people setting up businesses in Hang Bac Street, the two communal houses did not have enough space for the villagers to meet and make sacrifices, so they arranged to buy the Nội Miếu (inner temple) of the Hai Tuong Shoemaker villagers to make a temple to sit in the temple and return to their hometown of “Trau Khe Vong So".
In addition to the silver minting profession, the people of Trau Khe here also work in the profession of exchanging money and silver. Initially, in the past, we did not have money in paper money, but in copper money, zinc money, scrap silver, and compressed silver. Whenever you need to spend a large amount of money and use copper, zinc or scrap silver coins, it is bulky and very aggressive, on the contrary, when consuming small but only compressing silver in your hands, it is also troublesome. Therefore, you have to go to Hang Bac to exchange.
The silver minting profession in this street ended at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when Gia Long moved the capital to Hue, forcing “Trang" to also mint silver. As for the money changer, it lasted until the French invasion.
Hang Bac Street has a third profession, related to silver and gold, which is the jewelry profession. This profession includes three different professions: carving, that is, carving drawings and patterns on jewelry objects or utensils made of gold and silver; The bean profession is to pull gold and silver to melt into fibers and then pass them into the shape of flowers and leaves, the wild bird attaches to jewelry, the smooth profession is to make gold and silver dishes without a ripening station only “beaded" so that they are smooth and smooth.
The jeweler is from Dinh Cong, now in Hoang Mai district, Hanoi. Legend has it that during the reign of Emperor Ly Nam (6th century), there were three people from this village, Trần Điền, Trần Điện and Trần Hòa, who learned jewelry to teach the villagers. Jeweler Dinh Cong went to Thang Long also on Hang Bac Street, but later than the Trau Khe silver foundry, he moved to what is now the beginning of Hang Bo Street. They also set up an ancestral temple (three Tran cousins) in Hang Bo Street, the altar was “processioned" to worship at the communal house of Dinh Cong village.
Also working as jewelers are the people of Dong Sam village (Kien Xuong district, Thai Binh province). They also know the profession of touching but it seems that between these two jewelry villages there is an assignment (not very thorough) that is to worship Dong Sam specializing in large silver cosmetics such as pots, tops, betel boxes, cup trays, silver bowls, silver plates… And Dinh Cong craftsmen mainly make small jewelry such as earrings, beads, rings…
Until the beginning of this century, Hang Bac Street was still an old town, with two rows of “matches", with a sign of “silversmith" with the same “equipment" and decoration, that is, only consisting of a small bowl, an anvil and a ring, etc.
Let’s mention the two common houses of the “native" people. Because in this Hang Bac street, in addition to the people of Trau Khe, Dinh Cong, and Dong Sam villages to “stay in the beans’ , there are still hometown people of Dong Cac ward, of the two villages of Dung Han and Dong Tho. They also have their own temples. They are Dung Han communal house, now house No. 54 and Dung Tho is now house No. 24. Dung Han communal house has an ancient stele, erected in 1783, talking about a duke who tried to hide the communal house, but the people sued and won. At that time, Dung Han was a neighbor of Dong Cac ward. Dung Khan communal house during the Loh Lang period (see the section “Cau Giay "). As for Dung Tho Temple, it worships Mother, in the last years of the French colonial period, it was called Truong Ca communal house, the name of a famous temple keeper who sold pho to sell all night!
As for the combat history of the capital, Hang Bac Street has a house that has now become a proud memory of Hanoi. It is the Golden Bell Theater, no. 72 Hang Bac. Here, in the midst of the fiercest days of the “national resistance" against France, on the morning of January 14, 1947, the Team of Zone I took the oath here.
Hang Bac still has quite a few houses built in the old style, in the style of “matches", above which is a classic tile roof. If Ma May used to be the street with the most ancient houses in Hanoi, Hang Bac is the same. The image of tile roofs protruding from above can be seen quite a lot in Hang Bac.
Another interesting point: Hang Bac is probably the street with the smallest houses in Hanoi. Everyone knows that Hanoi is crowded, houses close to each other, narrow alleys, dark but basically the houses on the streets are not too narrow, usually about 3m wide, the wider houses are usually villas or for some special purposes.
But in Hang Bac, everyone was surprised by the narrowness here, the street has many houses with a width of only 2m, even just more than 1m. The houses are exactly like matchbags with small widths, deep vertical faces, and dark alleys. There are many houses with extremely narrow widths, so when you walk through the street, the feeling of toy puzzle houses like children suddenly appears. But although the house is narrow, Hang Bac is an extremely busy street.
Hang Bac Street has a long history with the title of famous silversmith a few hundred years ago. Hang Bac is famous for its traditional profession and even foreigners in the past, when passing through Hang Bac are also impressed by the silver minting and trading here. A Frenchman once wrote about the street as follows: “That street is one of the beautiful streets of Hanoi. Silver changers sat in a circle on the collapsed pile in the store, in front of piles of zinc and copper coins; and a small chest. They are silver minters."
And today’s Hang Bac, like the rare streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, still retains its name. The street has many gold and silver shops, from the beginning of the street to the end of the street, the gold shops are adjacent to each other, crowded with people buying and selling, passing by. Hang Bac Street trades and crafts silver, gold, precious metals and at the time of opening, there are travel agents, hotels, restaurants, but most of them are still silver goods with a long tradition.
Today’s Hang Bac Street is only about 0.5 km long, but there are hundreds of large and small shops gathered. Traditional jewelry making and gold and silver products are still maintained by experienced craftsmen as well as the younger generation who continue the family’s craft. Although most of the stores are now equipped with advanced technology, some families still keep the handmade tools of their ancestors.
Admittedly, the making of gold, silver, and jewelry products today is supported by modern machinery and advanced technology, but none of them can compare to the sophistication and uniqueness of the jeweler’s hand. With handmade tools, Hang Bac street artisans have created many exquisite products, especially jewelry.
There are many types of jewelry in different designs such as earrings, rings, necklaces, bracelets, ornaments, etc. There are two main types of products. One is simple items such as rings, earrings, bracelets for women and children. The other are carvings, the most famous among the Hang Bac artisans. Popular decorations for carving include the sacred animals of Asia (dragon, unicorn, and phoenix) with the dragon being the most varied subject thanks to the ingenuity of the craftsmen.
In addition, other images are also carved such as people, trees, flowers and leaves symbolizing good virtues according to Eastern culture such as bamboo, orchids, apricots, chrysanthemums. They all come in embossed or sunken shapes, two styles that characterize the product here. Today, jewelry, gold and silver as well as money exchange are present on many other streets in Hanoi, but Hang Bac is still the first place to go thanks to talented artisans and centuries of history.
As one of the oldest old quarters of Hanoi with unique architectural works and such characteristic cultural features, currently, Hang Bac street is also one of the heritages that are seriously degraded, ancient architectural works are encroached upon, People are also building houses indiscriminately without planning, so street “antiques" are gradually disappearing. This is alarming for the heritage of Thang Long – Hanoi. Because if you lose the old town, no matter how beautiful Ho Kiem is, no matter how spacious and modern Hanoi develops, it will lose its own charm and like many other cities in the world.
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We will explore the most amazing places in the north of Vietnam. First, North Vietnam Hanoi Tour will bring you to explore Hanoi charming city, with a half-day city tour, you will visit the most iconic attractions in Hanoi such as President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum complex, Temple of Literature, Hoan Kiem Lake and the old quarter of Hanoi. After Hanoi, we are going to Tam Coc, Ninh Binh where we visit the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital, enjoy the boat trip in Tam Coc and to discover the countryside. For ending two days of Inspirational Hanoi – Ninh Binh – Halong Tour, we will spend one night stay on a cruise to explore the seven natural wonder of the world. Let’s explore the Magnificent North of Vietnam with Impress Travel.
Email:northvietnamtour@impresstravel.com or contact the hotline (Whatsapp, Zalo, Viber, Skype) at +84.912 379 189 – Mr. Alex.
Day Inclusions: Private A/C transfer, English-speaking tour guide in Hanoi, lunch, entrance fee, hotel in Hanoi
Day Inclusions: Car/Mini-Van, Outstanding English speaking guide, Lunch – Vietnamese Cuisine at Tam Coc Nature Eco Lodge, All sightseeing tickets, Good bike with gears, 02 bottles of Mineral water, Services charges and government tax, Rowing boat to visit Tam Coc, One conical hat as souvenir, Demonstration of teaching to learn how to write, speak Vietnamese, and catch fish
Day Inclusions: Hotel breakfast, shuttle bus A/C transfer, English speaking tour guide on CRUISE only, entrance fee, full board, joint Cruise in Halong bay with private cabin (2 persons share 1 cabin)
What’s included in this trip :
3 STAR HOTELS & CRUISES IN VIETNAM SELECTED
Destination |
Room Type |
HOTEL NAME, ROOM TYPE & WEBSITE |
Hanoi 3-star Hotels |
Adamas Deluxe City |
ADAMAS HANOI HOTEL Refer: http://swancruiseshalong.com/ |
3-star Halong Bay Cruises |
Swan Cruise Deluxe |
SWAN CRUISE HALONG BAY Refer: http://swancruiseshalong.com/ |
4 STAR HOTELS & CRUISE IN VIETNAM SELECTED
Destination |
Room Type |
HOTEL NAME, ROOM TYPE & WEBSITE |
Hanoi 4-star Hotels |
The light deluxe with window |
THE LIGHT HOTEL HANOI Refer: thelighthotelhanoi.com/en/ |
4-star Halong Bay Cruises |
Sealife Suite Canbin |
HUONG HAI SEALIFE CRUISE HALONG BAY Refer: www.sealifegroup.com |
5 STAR HOTELS & CRUISE IN VIETNAM SELECTED
Destination |
Hotel Category |
HOTEL NAME, ROOM TYPE & WEBSITE |
Hanoi 5-star hotels |
Deluxe Sketch Apricot Hotel |
APRICOT HOTEL HANOI Refer: apricothotels.com/room/sketch |
5-star Halong bay Cruises |
Deluxe Room with Ocean View Margaret |
MARGARET CRUISE HALONG BAY Refer: https://margaretcruises.com |
The hotels and cruise are subject to change to similar category in case of fully booked
We went on a private trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, the whole trip plan was organized for us by the Impress Travel Company from Vietnam, the company did an amazing job, the whole trip was organized in a wonderful way with an amazing match between the various parties, their choices were correct and the quality of the hotels chosen were very high quality and it is important to note that the price was low in comparison To other agencies, thanks to Impress Travel and especially to Daniel who was tolerant and open to changes and organized the route for us.
Impress travel were amazing. Did my bookings with Daniel for our tour of Vietnam and I must say Daniel was very professional and prompt with his services. All the arrangement, plans, pick-up & drop-off services, hotels, vehicles, sightseeing tours and guides were spot on and excellent. Did 4 nights Hanoi, 1 night Hà Long Bay cruise, 3 nights Hoian, 4 nights Saigon and 1 night in Can Tho. It was totally awesome. Every part of the journey was superbly arranged and planned. I will highly recommend Impress Travel for anyone interested in visiting Vietnam. Very organized and reliable!
I booked with Impress Travel in July. My contact person was Tommy Thang. He is an amazing person. He was very helpful. He changed my program twice for me. Very accommodating!
We started our holiday in the north (Sapa)of Vietnam and travelled down to HCMC.
The tour was fantastic, Tommy's arrangements were to the"T".
I will always use them if I have to visit the area again and recommend them to one and all.
Thank you once again Mr.Tommy and the Impress Team.
Sulaiman Pochee
Great value for money with 4 stars hotel accommodation for 4 couples. The tour guide has been very helpful and brought us to amazing places in Sapa. We want to thanks Thuy the tour guide and especially Mark from Impress Travel for his great service and assurance throughout our trip. We’ll definitely use his service for other tour packages in other parts of Vietnam.
This is the second time we travel to Vietnam with IMPRESS Travel. First time, we booked our holiday to Hanoi, Halong Bay & Sapa during Dec 2018 with Impress.
Second time, we travel to Hoi An, Hue & Danang (Central Vietnam) during Jan 2019.
My friends & I are very glad & happy with all the hotels stay in Central Vietnam, the meals provided are delicious. We are greatly appreciated with all the tour arrangement by Tommy & his team (tour guide).
Especially, Mr. NHAT C.V. He is helpful, cheerful, knowledgeable and very professional. He always volunteer to take a nice pictures for six of us (group) .
We enjoyed our holiday with Impress travel. We will definitely come back to Vietnam again with Impress
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