THE HANOI TIMES — Hanoi is transforming memories into motion with a groundbreaking experiential walking tour around Truc Bach Lake. This immersive journey invites visitors to delve into the heart of the capital’s traditions, cuisine, crafts, and daily life, turning heritage from a static display into a vibrant, sensory adventure.
Launched on December 27 by the Hanoi Department of Tourism in partnership with the Ba Dinh Ward People’s Committee, the tour, titled “Hanoi – Touching the Realm of Memories,” traces nearly a century of cultural heritage through nine meticulously curated touchpoints in the Pearl Island–Ngu Xa area. This initiative marks a significant shift in how Hanoi presents its past, moving beyond observation to full immersion.
Awakening the Senses
Performers bring the Mother Goddess worship ritual to life through a spirited dance at Thuy Trung Tien Temple by Truc Bach Lake. Photo: Jenna Duong
Designed as a “nostalgia tour,” the program aims to resonate across generations, according to Tran Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism.
“For middle-aged visitors, it evokes the subsidy-era years. For younger travelers and international guests, it offers a rare glimpse into lived histories seldom found in guidebooks,” Hieu explained at the launch.
One of the tour’s most captivating stops is Thuy Trung Tien Temple, dedicated to Mother Goddess worship, one of Vietnam’s most revered folk beliefs. This site anchors a journey intended not just to observe Hanoi’s heritage, but to experience it fully.
Officially launched on December 27 by the Hanoi Department of Tourism in collaboration with the Ba Dinh Ward People’s Committee, the “Hanoi – Touching the Realm of Memories” tour represents a new approach to showcasing the city’s history.
As Tran Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism, explains, the program is designed as a “nostalgia tour” that appeals to all ages.
Tran Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Tourism, delivers remarks at the opening ceremony of the ‘Hanoi – Touching the Realm of Memories’ tour.
A Captivating Journey Through Hanoi’s Past
Rather than compressing history into timelines, the tour unfolds as a leisurely walking experience, blending experiential tourism, heritage exploration, and urban storytelling. Each stop is carefully curated to engage all five senses, allowing relics, rituals, and daily life to coexist in intimate, interactive spaces.
One of the tour’s most memorable moments occurs at Thuy Trung Tien Temple, where the Mother Goddess worship ritual is performed in its original setting. On a chilly late-winter afternoon, the rhythmic Chau Van music drifts across Truc Bach Lake, harmonizing with the graceful movements of a spirit medium and her attendants. The once-quiet temple grounds transform into a living stage where belief, performance, and community converge.
The serene sacred space of Tran Quoc Temple, reflecting centuries of history.
The journey begins at Quan Thanh Temple, a special national monument and one of the Four Guardian Temples of the ancient Thang Long Citadel. This site serves as a symbolic gateway into Hanoi’s spiritual landscape before the tour transitions to everyday culture.
Culinary heritage takes center stage at the Pho – Bun – Soi (Noodles) tram carriage, where guests explore the essence of Hanoi’s food culture through its iconic noodle dishes, with pho as the highlight.
At Café – Coffee, the focus shifts to Vietnamese coffee culture, offering visitors a hands-on experience in traditional brewing, including the art of making salted coffee.
The tour then delves into everyday memories, recreating the rhythms of daily life during the subsidy period. Kitchen – Cabinet – Tray presents simple meals of cassava and sweet potatoes alongside typical dishes and drinks of the era, while a Subsidy-Period Apartment recreates the familiar living spaces of Hanoi households from the last century.
Travelers experience the intimate setting of a traditional Hanoi wedding from the subsidy era. Photo: Thanh Hoa
Craft traditions are preserved at the Traditional Bronze Casting Exhibition House, showcasing the enduring skills of Ngu Xa artisans. Agricultural roots are highlighted at Rice – Paddy – Grain, where visitors learn about rice cultivation, sample rice-based foods and drinks, and try making traditional Hang Than young sticky rice cakes.
The journey concludes with quiet elegance at Tea and the Eight Elegant Traditions, a space dedicated to both traditional and modern tea culture. Here, the eight classic pastimes of ancient Hanoi—music, chess, poetry, painting, calligraphy, flowers, wine, and tea—are introduced as expressions of a refined urban spirit.
From the perspective of a travel professional, Nguyen Tien Dat, CEO of AZA Travel, praised the immersive quality of the “Hanoi – Touching the Realm of Memories” tour.
“This tour allows both domestic and international visitors to experience Hanoi in a way that feels both familiar and entirely new,” he said.
“Simply walking along Truc Bach Lake, tourists move through layers of romance, history, everyday life, and local flavors, all within a compact route,” Dat added, suggesting the tour could be adapted into a half-day itinerary for international travelers with multilingual guides.
Savoring the flavors of Hanoi: beef pho served in the Bun-Pho-Soi train carriage
Meanwhile, Claire Dubois, a visitor from Lyon who had arrived in Hanoi only days earlier, encountered the ritual by chance. Watching the spirit medium move in harmony with the Mother Goddess honoring music, she described the performance as an unexpectedly intimate introduction to Vietnamese spiritual life.
“I didn’t understand every symbol, but I felt the emotion immediately. There is music, movement, belief, and community all at once. It made Hanoi feel very alive, very human,” she stated.
Visitors explore Hanoi’s traditions, from tea and coffee to the eight classic pastimes of local life.
The tour is part of the broader “Leng Keng Heritage” tourism project, inspired by Hanoi’s historic tram system, which operated from 1901 to 1991. The symbolic No. 6 tram line is reimagined not as transportation, but as a vessel of memory, a “street museum” connecting sites, stories, and sensations across time.
In this context, “Hanoi – Touching the Realm of Memories” becomes more than a tourism product. It is a cultural statement, honoring heritage while reinterpreting it for contemporary audiences, and reaffirming Hanoi’s identity as a city that values depth, creativity, and lived experience as it moves into the future.
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