Hong Bang Street: Some features of the old street

(Baonghean) - You will be surprised when you have the opportunity to turn onto this street, and will also be immediately attracted to the unusually crowded and bustling atmosphere of a narrow street with the feeling as if the diverse lifestyle and services of this side of the street "blow" to the other side of the street. That is Hong Bang Street of Vinh City...

As one of the “old streets” of Vinh, if we take the starting point from when Vinh was rebuilt after 1975; Hong Bang Street was once considered the “soft boundary” between Le Mao ward and Quang Trung apartment complex built with the help of the Germans. Located in the city center as a main street, but after several renovations and upgrades, Hong Bang Street is still a narrow street compared to its inner-city traffic density.

Hong Bang Street

The road is more than a kilometer long, connecting from the roundabout where Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street intersects with Le Hong Phong Street, intersecting Dinh Cong Trang Street and ending when connecting with Ngu Hai Street. It can be said that Hong Bang Street is one of the most typical streets for the urban lifestyle of the young Vinh City; perhaps, because this street was once considered a representative of the urban lifestyle of the residents of Quang Trung apartment complex - where the city's elite civil servants used to gather. When designing and building that large apartment complex, the Germans focused on the strictness of the street frontage on Quang Trung Street, which coincides with National Highway 1A running through Vinh, so the shops, markets and all kinds of services were almost concentrated towards the back of Hong Bang Street.

Service store on Hong Bang street

Hong Bang Street began to become bustling in the 1990s, when many people bought land here to do business, along with the flourishing of food stalls, mainly serving breakfast and dinner, concentrated at the beginning of the street near C7 and C8 of Quang Trung apartment complex. It can be said that the concept of a night food street in Vinh began to take shape here. The owners and owners of night food stalls in C7 and C8 Quang Trung at that time were almost known to all drinkers and drinkers in the city. The concentration of civil servants living in high-rise apartment buildings, by the second generation, had also formed an urban lifestyle with a strong residential character, eagerly accepting new lifestyles, including the civilized features of "walking lightly and speaking softly" and respecting the privacy of each household, which were somewhat unfamiliar to the character of Vinh people as well as Nghe people in general. And that is why the way of buying and selling at Quang Trung market, thanks to being held in an apartment complex, soon escaped the traditional rural market-style of buying and selling compared to markets in other neighborhoods. Quang Trung apartment complex also had a great influence on Hong Bang street to quietly create for itself a diverse service street in terms of goods and services like today...

In the early 2000s, when Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street and Quang Trung Street became specialized streets, Dinh Cong Trang Street was expanded and upgraded, attracting buying and selling services serving neighboring residential areas to compete to squeeze into those streets, so the hustle and bustle of Hong Bang Street for a while almost disappeared. However, as is the nature of a rural market, wherever it spontaneously grows, it remains there, if it is forced to move, either the market is lost, or later buyers and sellers naturally return to the old market place... Hong Bang Street is the same, although there is a plan to build a new urban area to replace the old apartment complex with the promise of great changes, the services have still crowded back, competing to open up vibrantly and with a variety of types, with goods serving the basic, simple needs of people living in the street. It feels like, tomorrow, when the street is located in a complex of new, modern, civilized urban architecture, the street style will still be the same, irresistible!

In fact, despite its important role as a central street, due to waiting for the implementation of the new urban planning, Hong Bang Street has not yet been expanded or upgraded to its full potential. One side (East side of the street) is a stable population creating a true street appearance; the other side (West side of the street) is housing projects and schools of the old apartment complex waiting to be rebuilt, perhaps Hong Bang Street will continue to be expanded to this side. But with the current state, it almost creates a contrast between the appearance of the two street sides. And it feels like the diverse lifestyle and services of the East side of the street have been "projected" to the West side of the street, and if one day this side is cleared, the other side will also disappear like a projection! Indeed, while the stalls and service shops on the East side are carefully opened, stabilizing the facade of solid houses, on the West side are small kiosks or temporary shops, although sometimes they are decorated in a youthful and somewhat ornate new style. And, the old high-rise apartment buildings with lime color, the school walls running along the street covered with moss and the fiery red royal poinciana trees high above on the West side of the street have given the street an impressive sense of time.

The reason for the bustling traffic of the street is probably because Hong Bang Street is extremely rich in services, which "hit" the eating and shopping preferences of women and young people. Trendy are fashion clothing shops, coffee shops, cosmetics... all uniquely decorated in both color and material, evoking modern, youthful but extremely romantic spaces. Grocery products on Hong Bang Street are famous for being Thai products, from shampoo, sticky rice steamers, hairpins to cosmetics... displayed in a cluttered, colorful and eye-catching manner.

The street cuisine is also a brand, initially the porridge stall at the beginning of the street, then the goat meat stall Minh Su, hot pot Xoan, Tai Ky took the throne; but now we have to mention the row of nem chua, boiled snail stalls at the intersection of Dinh Cong Trang street... every afternoon crowded with customers. The street also creates an interesting feeling with the food stalls such as Da Nang bread, Thanh Hoa spring rolls, Quang noodles, Hue pancakes, Huong Son goat, seafood supermarket... and there are strange dishes such as fried pho, pho cuon. The sticky rice crowded on the street makes the expectation of the restaurants to open a big business frontage all fail. Now the street also has a few restaurants, but they all have to retreat into alleys or just rent a way into a large campus like "Lau 100" or "Hai san 152"... to be able to do business. Before, a big coffee brand came here to open a new establishment, but failed; Now that place is fenced off, opening an alley for new popular eateries to spring up, creating a rather unique culinary space...

Along with the trend of Quang Trung market alley spreading to this side, and the service specialty "hitting" the customer preferences of women and young people, the street is extremely crowded and bustling during rush hour at noon and in the evening. But like tidal waves, just after those times, the street quickly dissipates like a miracle, returning to its slow and no less romantic routine in the somewhat ornate modern service spaces... On the west side of the street, the old high-rise apartment buildings with lime color, the school walls running along the street covered with moss with the fiery red phoenix flowers above have the opportunity to demonstrate their quiet street impression.

Article and photos:Sam Temple