An Duong Vuong Street - A new streetscape

(Baonghean)Living or working on this street, everyone surely thanks it for providing such a beautiful and dreamy space. A small tea shop, a bright rice noodle stall, a coffee corner with moss-covered laterite stone surfaces... these create the soul of this new street. An Duong Vuong Street is considered one of the youngest streets in Vinh City, expected to become a distinctly civilized street...

A newly constructed section of An Duong Vuong Street (Vinh City).

In the early 1990s, An Duong Vuong Street was just a small, gravel-paved street bordered by two rows of stunted casuarina trees, stretching only from Vo Thi Sau Street up to what is now the Truong Thi Ward Office. The intersection with Nguyen Xi Street, crossing Drainage Canal No. 3, was then a small iron bridge. And the section from Vo Thi Sau Street down to Phong Dinh Cang Street was a mix of rice paddies and a cemetery, later used as temporary housing for the Nghe An Folk Song Troupe and the Brewery.

To date, the road is wide, but the street's design on both sides hasn't been standardized. Besides the unfinished clearance of the section between Nguyen Xi Street and Vo Thi Sau Street, there's also the issue of government offices, schools, and training centers on both sides of the road, for which no relocation sites have been chosen. Perhaps this is also why it's difficult to develop a specialized commercial street. Apart from a few beauty salons and photo studios, the street only has a few scattered cafes, restaurants, and 4D cinemas... But whether they open and quickly close, or remain open for decades, any establishment here is quickly recognized and remembered by people from all directions. For example, Viet Hien eel porridge shop, located opposite Truong Thi ward's stadium, is considered the first eel porridge restaurant on the street. Opened decades ago, its cooking and serving methods haven't changed; many old customers leave, and new customers arrive, naturally neither decreasing nor increasing. Those who enjoy eel dishes might come here to eat 15 days a month. Perhaps that's why, when the sign was later re-erected, they added the phrase "traditional eel dish"...

For example, at house number 18 in the row of townhouses on the south side of the street, someone opened a coffee shop for a short time but it was so empty they had to move. The new owner, undeterred, continued running the shop, but after less than a year, they also moved. However, the third person who rented the space continued running the coffee shop... I don't know why, but when I asked the owner of the coffee shop with the sign "Thảo Mộc" (Herbal), I was told that this location, this house, and the street view were very suitable for a coffee shop, it just wasn't compatible with the owner's birth chart! Whether this "business belief" is true or not, I don't know, but strangely, on either side of that house, there are tea stalls selling cheap tea for two thousand dong a cup, or 4D cinema coffee shops with drinks for fifty or seventy thousand dong, and they are all packed with customers every evening.

Next to house number 18 on the south side is a small eatery that sells pounded tea at night. I don't know how much profit they make, but in the summer, after dinner, customers fill the sidewalks. Pounded tea is the pure extract of finely ground green tea; the owner claims that not just any mortar and pestle can produce good tea. To get the best tea, you need a stone pestle from a deep forest stream, and a mortar made from fresh bamboo, replaced every few days. No one has ever actually seen them pound the tea, but every night, ordering a cup of fragrant pounded tea with ice, everyone exclaims: delicious, refreshing, and nutritious! That small An Duong Vuong pounded tea stall, which sprung up in just one summer, quickly gained popularity, attracting customers of all kinds: intellectuals, laborers, students, and even retirees walking home from the square at night...

It was bustling with activity, but then suddenly closed down, leaving many people on the street feeling disappointed... Opposite the tea stalls, there was Lan Tram coffee shop, considered a street innovation in both its space and service style. The tiny shop, built with exposed laterite stone and burnt bricks, had simple tables and chairs but was very popular. Many young couples used to come here and ask to use it as a backdrop for their wedding photos. Perhaps this unique shop was also a gathering place for vintage Minsk motorcycle enthusiasts, or perhaps a popular photography club from Nghe An province known for its charitable activities in recent times?

Wow, this wide street, promising future development, is only mentioned by a few simple beverage stalls. The residential area on both sides is mainly inhabited by civil servants, with most houses built in the villa and mansion style; the side streets are also neatly arranged. Therefore, the street's tendency towards a more civilized character amidst the somewhat chaotic pace of modern construction in Vinh City is evident in its peaceful and orderly nature. The architecture of An Duong Vuong Street is also unusual: if one side is occupied by offices, the other side by residential houses; this staggered arrangement continues to both ends of the street.

Some say that An Duong Vuong Street in Vinh City today possesses a dreamy and hesitant charm rarely seen in modern streets; this is because it is steeped in the fascinating legend of an ancient Vietnamese king that has sparked much debate among historians and provided unique inspiration for many literary works, including cautionary tales about love and the legend of the goose feather and the jade well. I like the phrase "dreamy street" because of the impressions of the early morning sun casting a rosy glow on the street, outlining the shadows of people passing by amidst the lingering mist on An Duong Vuong Street, regardless of the season...

Dinh Sam