'Sleeping visit' at Quang Trung house

(Baonghean.vn) - When we heard that the apartment complex was about to be demolished, we, the 'Quang Trung kids' in Hanoi, made an appointment to sit down and reminisce about the past. 'Sleeping over' was the most talked about topic, and almost every boy had experienced it at least once.

In April 1976, the first residents of the Quang Trung apartment complex moved to their new home. It took us two or three years to get to know each other, but we, the Quang Trung kids, gradually became friends. When we went to school, people called us “the apartment complex” and it made us proud.

Quang Trung was considered a model urban area at that time, because in the “Quang Trung sub-district” (the name at that time) there were parks, kindergartens, food stores… later there were even primary and secondary schools. At that time, the entire Vinh city had only one coal-fired power plant, located near Ben Thuy bridge. When there was coal, the city had electricity, when there was no coal, the whole city lit up with oil lamps. In the summer, the Lao wind blew sand all over the streets, people’s faces were dry and haggard from the sun and hunger. In the 70s and 80s, to prevent fires, the entire city banned cooking for lunch.

A corner of Quang Trung apartment building. Photo: Hong Nguyen.

The Quang Trung multi-storey house was surrounded by sand all the way to the foot of the stairs. The sun was shining on the walls all day, making the whole block of houses look like a bunker. If lucky enough to have electricity, every house would bring out a cicada fan from Dien Co., or a fan from the former Soviet Union to beat the heat. Usually, there was only electricity two or three nights a week, sometimes until midnight, so the palm leaf fan was an indispensable item for mothers and grandmothers. Families often spread mats out in the hallway to compete with each other to fan all night long. Fathers and mothers fanned until their arms were tired and they fell asleep without realizing it. When we grew up a little, around ten years old, to make our mothers less tired, we invited each other to go “sleeping over”…

Usually after the “Late Night Story Reading” program on the radio, the heat rising from the rooftop had subsided, and then we all slowly went up to the rooftop. It seemed like a convention that the girls would stay in a separate area, usually isolated. On moonlit nights, sitting on the rooftop, we would look out at the city and think, when will we become adults?

The simple beauty of the bougainvillea trellis in house B6. Photo: Truong Manh Ha.

On the terrace, we told each other all kinds of stories, waiting until the first breeze blew from the sea, then we all fell into a deep summer sleep. There were days when my friends Son and Nghia were so excited that they sang all night long, the girls sitting around with their mouths open, listening as if swallowing every word. Following my brother, we will go home/Rè re lá do la do la sơn la/Following each other, we will go home/Rè re lá do la do la sơn la/Revisiting the countryside where there is a dike…

When we were a little older, we sometimes made plans to sleep “across the continent” to socialize with our peers from other houses. Usually, the house with the most beautiful girls would have more “guests”. I still remember that house B4 had Hang “Ca”, house B3 had Lam “Mua”… they were once beautiful flowers of the Quang Trung house. The boys from the neighboring houses often went there to show off their talents in front of the beauties.

We, the “Quang Trung kids” of that time, are now in our forties. Every time we visit the city during Tet, we sit together and still talk passionately about the girls in the multi-storey houses of that time and recall the wonderful childhood days in the multi-storey houses of memories...

Phan Hao