Hanoi’s Autumn “Specialties”

Gentle, quiet, with a chilly wind, the sky is cloudy and rainy both in the early morning or at the end of the day. Those are the signs that Hanoi’s autumn, the most beautiful season of the thousand-year-old capital, has returned.

The painting of the falling gold leaves

Autumn came to Hanoi quietly. Through the windy nights, the trees began to change their colors. The leaves turned yellow, falling to cover the familiar roads.
The morning is clear, the sun is no longer as harsh as the days of June, the sky of Hanoi becomes pure and poetic. Along the streets of Hang Khay, Phan Dinh Phung, Hoang Dieu… the shade of autumn is overwhelming. People going through these streets tend to slow down, take a moment to appreciate this extremely beautiful and poetic scenery.

The intoxicating scent of milkwood pine flower

The lovely moments of autumn are when heaven and earth are at peace, people’s hearts are at peace, and thousands of tiny milkwood pine flowers give off a sweet, fragrant scent to the sky.

Late September, early October is the milkwood pine flower season. This flower is small, clustered, not as gorgeous as the colorful bougainvillea or fiery red phoenix flower in the summer, but still extremely attractive by its fragile, graceful appearance and characteristic fragrant – like a character in a magical fairy tale.

The gracious gifts from the rice nuggets

 

 

 

 

When speaking of Hanoi’s autumn, you cannot ignore the rice nuggets – An elegant gift from rice plant. Rice nuggets, the green “pearl of the sky” is a familiar food of Hanoians, can be eaten as is, dipped with bananas, sautéed with sugar, cooked into a sweet soup, depending on personal preferences and tastes.

Along the familiar old streets, it is easy to see the lovely street vendors, above them are bunches of fresh rice with green lotus leaves. It is possible to even buy just one ounce of rice nuggets, because nuggets are to be enjoyed slowly and to let the nuggets tell those Hanoi’s passionate stories.

Balconies covered with flowers

Hanoi and its hundreds of years old streets are something very special, very different. On the balconies of old houses and villas, the colors of sunshine, leaves and flowers blend together under the autumn sky, creating a beautiful scene. On the yellow and gray walls lingering the old Indochinese culture, with the shadow of bricks and tiles and the moss of time, each canopy of sesame trees, sun-kissed Indian almond trees, faded from green to yellow. The drooping bougainvillea trees and ornamental persimmons were less fresh, but had a gentle, autumnal look.

The rhythm of Hanoi’s life echoes on the balconies of old houses, with the elderly getting up early to exercise, watering the plants, and taking care of the house. Moments later, there were people sitting and sipping coffee and chatting in old shops with balconies. A poetic Hanoi in mid-autumn on the corner of the balcony.

btn-dangkyhocthu