Nguyen Duc Canh Street - A street that evokes memories

(Baonghean) -Like some other streets in Vinh City, Nguyen Duc Canh Street brings many emotions because of its winding shape, wide in some places and narrow in others, and the hustle and bustle of buying and selling between the quiet stretches of the street hesitantly constructed between old and new...

Nguyen Duc Canh Street

This street in the early 1980s was a small, sandy dirt road. The unnamed small road at that time was originally the path from Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street to Lien Co residential area. After intersecting Le Hong Phong Street, it deviated from the centerline of the road on this side, leading to the Biology Department of Vinh Pedagogical University (old) and the army units stationed in the residential area deep inside Hung Binh Ward. It was not until 1998 that the street was officially named Nguyen Duc Canh and its planning was determined as it is now.

Nguyen Duc Canh Street, according to its current name, is only about 1 kilometer long. But perhaps on the planning map, after passing through the school area of ​​Hung Binh ward, cutting Nguyen Quoc Tri Street, it will continue to run through Nguyen Van Cu Street. Because there are still more than 100 meters left at the end of the street that cannot be cleared, it creates a typical "bottleneck" of the inner-city traffic, causing the remaining 300 meters leading to Nguyen Van Cu Street to "bear" two alley numbers (alley 3 of Nguyen Quoc Tri Street and alley 333 of Nguyen Van Cu Street). It is also possible that because of that "bottleneck" that has existed for decades, the part of Nguyen Duc Canh Street running from Le Hong Phong Street to the East, although recently planned to be spacious and renovated, has been tried several times to become a specialized street but still cannot be turned into a specialized street.

The western part connecting Le Hong Phong Street with Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, due to the dense population from before, the planned street is narrower, the roadway is narrow and the sidewalk is also narrow, the trees close their canopies and cover both sides of the street, crowded with small services, so it evokes the old street style with the echoes of old urban areas in the North such as Hanoi, Hai Phong, Nam Dinh... In fact, the appearance of the street has only existed since the early 1990s, when the land of inter-agency collective housing areas was priced and sold to officials, workers and employees and the street surface was auctioned. At that time, the rhythm of civil servant life dominated the street life, although it was not favorable for buying and selling services, it was ideal for those who love a quiet and orderly lifestyle. The layer of street-front houses grew up along with a few walls surrounding the office campus, leaving alleys running deep on both sides, revealing a few vacant lots with green grass and trees, an ideal dating place for couples who loved the clear moonlight of the countryside night when the street electricity was still unstable. Later, houses grew densely, those alleys, though squeezed to a tiny size, but the two fronts were still neat and winding like a maze, making Nguyen Duc Canh Street soon bustling, urban with cosmetic shops, beauty spas, fashion shops... Grocery stores also did not seem as messy as other streets, but were small, carefully selected items, opened as if only to display at a fair...

New apartment complex is being completed on Nguyen Duc Canh street.

In contrast to this side, on the eastern side of the street (starting from Le Hong Phong Street, near Dien Anh 2 Cafe), breakfast stalls are scattered next to small coffee shops. On the long street inside where it intersects with Kim Dong Street, opposite the schools and the Martyrs Monument of Hung Binh Ward, services are almost undeveloped. On the outside, where it intersects with Le Hong Phong Street, it seems to be getting more lively, perhaps to welcome large projects such as the high-rise apartment building that is being completed. This area is probably also the only one of the streets in Vinh City that has a kiosk selling votive offerings. Gold and silver coins are neatly arranged in various colors, sparkling on the walls and shelves. On both sides of this street are very spacious alleys that are often mistaken for a large street if you do not look up at the "civilized alley" signs at the beginning of the alley.

At first, on both sides of the street in the East, there were dilapidated level 4 houses. Later, the State planned the road boundary to where the houses were demolished, leaving behind a small square door facing the street to provide “services”. The artist was skinny and old before his time, mumbling tobacco, his clothes were sloppy and red and green, he copied pictures and drew wall newspapers, slogans very beautifully with graceful and elegant lines. Meanwhile, the bicycle repairman, a retired cadre, always wore sandals, his clothes were neatly tucked in, the radio was next to him playing 30 minutes of folk songs and traditional music, when he patched this hole, he fumbled to poke a hole in another… But they got along well, every now and then this man would bend down and crawl through that square hole to listen to the other man’s conversation for a while. On days when this man was absent, the other man seemed to be crazy. Then the snail shop with baskets and trays was a favorite gathering place for the brothers and sisters working at a cultural agency in the rented headquarters across the street... Now, those painting, patching, snail shops... are no longer there, the street is bustling and the street is more presentable, but the old people in the street still find it hard to forget the old feelings. Perhaps that is why that street is gradually growing up, besides the paper money stalls, the wedding gift stalls, the brooms, bamboo brooms... all evoking something old?

Maybe in the future, when the “cork” at the end of the eastern street is released, Nguyen Duc Canh Street will become a street specializing in some kind of goods, as my friend, an urban official, predicted. But I believe that a part of Nguyen Duc Canh Street will still retain the old, soulful features of a small street like now.

Sam Temple