Travel Guide to Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi, is the capital of Vietnam. It is an, is a stylish city which is situated on the Red River banks. The streets of the Old Quarter are named after trades that used to be popular on the territory in the past.

In the 1880s the city became a French protectorate and thus lots of changes were introduced in many spheres of life of the city. For example, it acquired wide boulevards and large colonial buildings which are used today as residence for different government departments and also foreign embassies.

Ho Chi Minh organized the Viet Minh during the WWII. The main objective of it was to fight for independence from France. The French surrendered at last in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu and the city was proclaimed the capital of North Vietnam but it was necessary to reunite the country at that time.

The USA Forces decided to offer support to South Vietnam and a war launched in 1965. It finished in 1973 but the fighting acts didn't stop until 1975 because of Saigon hostile actions.

A year after the war stopped Vietnam was reunited.

For a long period of time Hanoi had a reputation of a city unwillingly accepting visitors. There were quite explainable reasons for it: the city was severely bombed during war and as a result had to reconstruct a great part of buildings and streets.

The city also used to face economic problems that resulted in high-speed inflation, poverty and repression. Then the government developed and introduced a new reform which allowed people to start their own business and situation gradually began to change to a better one. Today Hanoi is absolutely different as it has been greatly transformed in all the aspects. Visitors are welcome today in the city.