Ma May – A Must-visit In Hanoi Old Quarter During Tours

If you love to explore and appreciate the traditional culture of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, Ma May Street is the place you cannot miss when coming to the capital. Below is the most detailed information about this ancient street of Hanoi for tourists who want to learn.

Information about Ma May street

As a neighborhood that can be said to be the oldest in the list of 36 streets in Hanoi, Ma May Street is not special and not well known for its bustling shopping activities like other streets, it is special in that this is a street that still preserves ancient traditions, helping visitors to clearly imagine the cultural and architectural beauty of the 20th century capital. So if you want to experience the traditional culture of Hanoi but don’t have enough time to explore all 36 streets, choose Ma May street as a priority.

As one of 36 old streets in Hanoi, about 268 meters long, Ma May Street runs from South to North and then turns around to the West. The special feature is also in the name of the street, “Ma May" is a combination of the names of two other streets, Hang Ma Street and Hang May Street, which are two streets adjacent to Ma May Street.

History of formation of Ma May street

The formation of Ma May Street was also extremely random, and thanks to that coincidence, it created one of the most famous streets in Hanoi today, the part of Hang May street belongs to the land bordering Huong Tuong, Ha Khau ward; Hang Ma street part belongs to Dung Tho village. During the French colonial period, our present-day Ma May neighborhood was called Rue des Pavillons Noirs, which also means Black Flag Street because in 1883, there was a black flag unit stationed in this neighborhood.

France also placed a number of offices and agencies in this area because it was near the river and near the Chinese market. And slowly over time, French merchants gathered here to trade as well as many merchants from many places came to do business, turning this place into a bustling neighborhood for trade and business.

In ancient times, the southern part of Ma May neighborhood was a bustling place of businesses making votive and paper goods specializing in providing funerals, ceremonies, and processions funerals, while the northern end was the place for family businesses specializing in making rattan products and producing raw rattan fibers. But to this day, Ma May neighborhood seems to have forgotten all those traditional industries, giving way to industries and tourism services that attract foreign tourists. Going around the street, you will see many motels and hotels have sprung up to serve tourism development.

What is Ma May Street famous for?

Just like many other old quarters in Hanoi are famous for certain tourism or trading activities, Ma May Street is the same. Let’s find out together why this thousand-year-old neighborhood still attracts a huge number of tourists.

The first reason why this neighborhood has become extremely famous is because it is a place that preserves many spiritual values ​​and famous cultural architecture. As one of the old quarters that still retains a lot of cultural beauty as well as being home to many traditional relics of previous centuries, it can be said that Ma May is famous for those things. Tourists also come here to review the highlights of history and express their love for previous generations.

Ma May Street is still fortunate to have remaining ancient houses bearing the architectural features of the 20th century capital as well as famous and extremely long-standing Buddhist cultural works such as Ma May Temple at number 64. Although the works are not large or massive, they have extremely high historical value as well as the trust of many generations of people who have been living in Hanoi.

In addition, this neighborhood is extremely busy and well known to tourists thanks to its delicious restaurants with extremely diverse dishes from traditional to modern. You can comfortably fill your hungry stomach with a food tour here.

Activities to experience on Ma May Street

If you are traveling in Hanoi and intending to travel and explore Ma May Street, what activities and places can you experience and explore? Let’s scroll down to find out.

Ancient house at 87 Ma May

The ancient house No. 87 Ma May is one of the few ancient architectures from ancient times preserved, restored and allowed by the Hanoi city government to become a tourist attraction to popularize historical information and knowledge to residents and tourists. As one of 14 ancient houses built at the end of the 19th century, the total area of ​​the house is 157.6m2, built perpendicular to the street, the land length is 28m, the frontage width is 5m and the width of the The back side is 6m, the space is not too large, but thanks to the arrangement of furniture in the house as well as the combination of two floors, the inside of the house looks extremely comfortable and cozy.

Over many years of historical upheaval, the house has also gone through many owners. In 1945, a herbal medicine merchant bought and used the house, and from 1954 to 1999, the house went through five different generations of owners who lived and worked here.

The house’s restoration process began in 1998 and was completed on October 27, 1999 within the framework of cooperation between Hanoi city and Toulouse city of France. The restoration was carried out perfectly and did not affect the structure of the house and all objects in the house were kept in their original state. On February 16, 2004, the house was recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) as a National Heritage.

Briefly talking about the house, this is a tubular, multi-purpose house. You can imagine that the house is quite narrow in width but wide in depth, with different layers of houses separated by sections of the courtyard. This is a popular type of house in the capital Thang Long in the 20th century.

Currently, the ancient house at 87 Ma May is used as a familiar destination for tourists and even local people because they come to visit the ancient architecture of the house as well as feel the cultural values for thousands of years, this place also regularly organizes ca tru and music performances to serve the people. If possible, come to the ancient house at 87 Ma May to see this unique beauty with your own eyes.

Experience the cuisine at house number 25 Ma May

If you are a food lover, when coming to Ma May, it is difficult for you to ignore the house on 25 Ma May of culinary artist Anh Tuyet. Coming here, you can both enjoy traditional dishes of Hanoi and learn how artisan Anh Tuyet makes such delicious traditional dishes.

As a restaurant specializing in cuisine and selling traditional dishes of Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular, what can be said to be the most quintessential of Vietnam from the past until now will be brought into your stomach. As a restaurant that many world-famous chefs, including the late legendary chef Anthony Boudairn, have experienced and praised, you can completely believe that this place will bring back memories of Hanoi for you through each dish. Let’s try it out.

Experience the food street in Ma May

One of the activities you can do on Ma May Street is to experience the extremely rich food street that stretches across the street from the south to the north of the street. With thousands of culinary choices, you absolutely need about two to three days to eat all the dishes available on this street.

Choosing a dish depends on each person’s preferences and dietary needs, but at Ma May, you can feel comfortable because any dish from traditional to new is served quickly, easily and most delicious. Please take the time to try the delicious dishes here.

Listen to ca tru in an ancient house

Also one of the extremely popular activities, you will experience the traditional music of the North. Is there anything better than immersing yourself in the ancient space of a thousand-year-old old house and enjoying music that is recognized as a national heritage? This activity is regularly organized and kept from generation to generation.

Conclusion

A traditional neighborhood that still preserves so much national cultural beauty in general and the beauty of ancient Hanoi in particular is Ma May neighborhood, an extremely wonderful street of Hanoi, and the information you need to know about this street has been presented in the most detail above. Try once to set foot in Hanoi city, go to Ma May ancient town to be able to go back in time to the old beauty of Hanoi.

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