If you are a person who loves to explore and immerse yourself in the atmosphere of traditional festivals, then when you come to Hanoi, exploring Hang Ma Street is the wisest thing you should do. Below is information about this bustling traditional street that you should know.
Hang Ma Street in Hanoi
Hang Ma Street is a famous street in the list of 36 streets in Hanoi, located in Hang Ma ward, Hoan Kiem district, with a length of about 300m and located in the East – West direction. At the eastern end of the neighborhood is where the intersection intersects with Hang Ngang, Hang Duong and Hang Chieu streets, while on the Tay side, this street intersects with Phung Hung and the train tracks.
Located in what can be called a prime location of the city, from Hang Ma street we can drop by many other places at a fairly close distance, including Dong Xuan market, about 100m away, and Guom lake, Ngoc Son temple, about 700m away. Thanks to being the intersection of many routes and streets, this place is always crowded and bustling.
Ancient Hang Ma Street
To get there to visit, explore and take photos of Hang Ma Street, there are many ways for you to get there, you can rent a motorbike yourself and park your car at Dong Xuan market or Hang Ma street committee then you can experience the street. Or you can catch bus routes 01, 31, 36, these buses will stop at Hang Ma street. Or more conveniently, you can use motorbike taxi or technology car services, experienced drivers in Hanoi will take you to your destination safely and comfortably.
Hang Ma street
The area of Hang Ma street in the past was part of the land of Vinh Thai village and An Phu village, Hau Tuc district (later changed to Dong Xuan district), formerly Tho Xuong district. After a while, Vinh Thai village changed to Vinh Hanh village, these two villages are located on both sides of the To Lich river and about a while later this river section was filled up, gradually forming a street with two rows of houses on both sides are opposite, and through many changes, they have become Hang Ma street as it is today.
During the French colonial period, Hang Ma street was named Rue du Cuivre, similar to Hang Dong street at that time. The people here included a number of families from Tan Khai village who settled down to open shops selling paper and votive objects for public use offerings according to Eastern customs, and paper goods used for decoration. There are usually two types of popular houses here: tubular houses and match-stack houses, although tubular houses are limited in width, they have the advantage of depth, so people have cleverly combined them. worship, living and trading spaces together so that they can operate easily. As for match-stack houses, they often have fake doors or windows facing the street to act as a rain cover for people’s business activities.
Hang Ma _Craft Street_ endures over time
When mentioning Hang Ma Street, we cannot help but mention the stalls bustling with people going in and out and displaying items such as offering paper and votive offerings, traditional toys and other items. Decorated with many different colors, this is a characteristic of Hang Ma Street’s trading activities as well as what makes this neighborhood famous. As you know, among the 36 streets in Hanoi, there are certain neighborhoods that will only sell specific items and Hang Ma Street is one of such neighborhoods.
Being persistent and steadfast in selling just one product makes Hang Ma street even more special in the eyes of tourists as well as helping to maintain the traditional paper craft of our ancestors from the past. Today, many tourists from remote provinces in Vietnam, and even international tourists from all over the world, want to experience the fantastic beauty of this street.
The beauty of Hang Ma Street through festival seasons
In addition to the beauty that comes from traditional trading and exchange activities, Hang Ma is also loved by many tourists, including local people, who are excited to explore this place because the beauty of this ancient street always changes according to each festival season. Next, let’s explore the beauty of this fantastic street through each of Vietnam’s major festivals.
Hang Ma Street during Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year is considered one of the biggest holidays of the year, this is an occasion when everyone in the family gathers together to welcome a peaceful and happy new year. Carefully preparing for ancestors and grandparents to celebrate the New Year seems to have been instilled in moral conduct and is a thousand-year-old habit of Hanoi people in particular and all Vietnamese people in general.
At this time, Hang Ma Street also seems to have changed into a new outfit. All activities here have begun to take place enthusiastically about 10 days before New Year’s Eve. When you come to Hang Ma Street at this time, you will see a scene filled with red with stalls selling various items and products, some people selling products such as burning paper and offerings for grandparents, ancestors; There are also stalls selling typical Tet gifts such as fireworks, lucky money envelopes and artificial flowers. Each stall sells its own product, but the common point is that it is extremely bustling and filled with red, the Hanoi sky becomes very Tet and very sparkling.
Exploring Hang Ma Street during Tet is an extremely wise decision for tourists coming to Hanoi because during this time, the number of people visiting the street will be extremely crowded, creating an extremely fun and exciting scene. At the same time, this is also a good time for you to wear ao dai and take some photos to preserve memories for yourself.
Hang Ma Street during the Mid-Autumn Festival
Preparing items to sell for the Mid-Autumn Festival on Hang Ma Street is different from other holidays because all items are prepared about 15 days to a month in advance, so you can see the atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival on this place is the first compared to other areas in Hanoi. On this occasion, stalls in Hang Ma will sell many typical items such as star lanterns, carp lanterns, all kinds of unicorn and dragon heads, most of the products are red, creating an extremely fiery and beautiful scene.
Hang Ma Street is not only a place for families to prepare for a full Mid-Autumn Festival, but also a place to organize the main performing arts activities for the Mid-Autumn Festival every year in Hanoi. This place often holds lion dances, dragon dances, mid-autumn drumming and concerts for everyone to see. Gradually, Hang Ma Street becomes an indispensable place for every person to visit during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Hang Ma Street at Christmas
As the most important holiday for all countries in the world, Christmas is also the time when families around the world gather together, similar to traditional ceremonies in Vietnam. In Vietnam, Christmas is also very respected and prepared very carefully, Hang Ma Street can be said to adapt quickly enough to change its appearance before this big holiday comes.
A few days before Christmas, all over Hang Ma street, stalls raced to change their clothes to new ones by completely changing the color tone of the stalls, normally it would just be activities of buying and selling paper money, offerings, but when it comes to Christmas, stalls will sell items such as Christmas trees, Santa Claus and various reindeer and fake snowmen. Products with many different colors create an extremely sparkling and majestic scene for the entire neighborhood.
Even Hang Ma Street is not only crowded in the days before Christmas, but on Christmas Eve, many families and groups of friends come here together to enjoy the extremely authentic Christmas atmosphere like in Europe and can take beautiful pictures of each other. If you come to Hanoi during Christmas, try to experience it.
Hang Ma Street on Halloween
Continuing to be an extremely famous holiday in the world, it is Halloween, at this time, people can freely dress up as any character they like and go out together to ask for candy. In Vietnam, although there are not many activities on this holiday, Hang Ma Street is always fully prepared with costumes and makeup tools for those who are interested, including vampire and superhero costumes, pumpkin lanterns and hundreds of other items are always prepared to serve all customers.
Hang Ma Street is one of the few ancient streets that still preserves the craft of making paper offerings and offerings to ancestors like our ancestors did in the past. In addition to the traditional cultural beauty, this place is also an extremely attractive tourist destination as well as a place that will bring you many interesting experiences. We have sent you all information about Hang Ma Street, please consider and reward yourself with a trip to Hanoi right away.
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