ONE THOUSAND YEARSOF CULTURE
Hanoi has an elegance, a grace , unlike any other city in Asia. It is astately capital, an old grande dame whose worn beauty hints at untold stories- asecret past. It is a city that invites nostalgia, just as it invites questions:Who else has stopped beneath this spreading banyan tree? Who once lived in that proudcolonial villa? Who lives there now?

In the wide, tree-lined boulevards of the French Quarter, the past ispalpable .History clings to the sun-drenched walls like moss.

But the fine colonial mansions are but one layer of history. Strolling aroundthe little lake in the heart of Hanoi ,where legends grow thicker than waterlilies, you will get a sense of the city's true cultural depth. One myth tellsof a golden turtle, which rose from the lake's green depths to present Vietnam'sking with a magical sword, used to repel northern invaders in the 15th century.

Hanoi's position as Vietnam's capital dates back to 1010, when Emperor LyThai To established the court of Thang Long (Ascending Dragon ) on this site.Over the centuries the city's name changed several times, until Emperor Tu Ducchristened it Hanoi (City in a Bend of the River) in 1831.

Then, from 1902 to1953 Hanoi was the capital of French Indochina. Vietnam's long struggle forindependence and its its birth as a socialist state are commemorated in many ofthe city's museums and monuments, the most famous of which is President Ho ChiMinh's imposing stone mausoleum.
 

In the Old Quarter Hanoi's rich past comes to life. Stroll down the ancientguild streets, where the wares on offer have remained unchanged for centuries:traditional medicines and herbs, brightly colored votive paper, bolts of finelyspun silk, silver and jade jewellery. Ten centuries of culture and commerce arelayered like paints, creating a vibrant mural of past and present. Here you willsee the life of Hanoi: the women who pad past with baskets of breadperched on their heads; the flower vendors wheeling bicycles festooned withfresh-cut roses, mums and lilies ; the brown-robed monks on their way to thepagoda.
 

As well as being Vietnam's political center, Hanoi has long been thecountry's artistic and cultural heart. Visitors can explore the peaceful groundsand pavilions of the Temple of Literature, an ancient university where the firstscholars enrolled in 1070. Today, the city's aura of culture continues to drawnintellectuals and artists. Dozens of galleries showcase the fruits of aflourishing contemporary art scene.

This creative legacy is not surprising, given that Hanoi invites quitecontemplation. With its shady lakes and countless street-side cafes, the citytempts you to linger over a cup of thick Vietnamese coffee and watch the worldgo by. Spend some time in Hanoi and you too will fall under its languid spell.Hanoi's cloistered beauty hides Vietnam's ancient soul.