Nguyen Thai Hoc: A Quiet Path

(Baonghean) - Sometimes, a street doesn't need many distinctive people or objects, or a long history, to be easily remembered. This is because the street may have quickly become an important thoroughfare connecting several neighborhoods, and both sides of the street have their own unique character with a slow pace of life, despite the suppressed aspirations of a first-class city. That's Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in Vinh City…

As the first month of the lunar year draws to a close, the banyan trees are shedding their red leaves. On the sidewalks, in the late afternoons, the leisurely strolls of elderly people with gray hair complement the unusually slow pace of the street. Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, one kilometer long, connects Le Hong Phong Street from the east to the Tran Hung Dao - Truong Chinh route in the west. It was formerly within the inner city boundaries of the old Vinh city. Formed at the same time and playing a vital role as an inner-city artery alongside Tran Phu, Phan Dinh Phung, Quang Trung, Le Loi, Phan Chu Trinh streets, etc., it's strange that Nguyen Thai Hoc Street still lacks the specialized commercial character of other streets.

The street's southern side belongs to the Quang Trung and Doi Cung wards; its northern side belongs to the Le Loi ward. More than a few decades ago, both sides of the street still clearly showed fertile land, rice paddies wet with the east wind, and white sand scorching in the summer sun. At the entrances of the small alleys leading into the sparsely populated residential areas, there were almost always small tea stalls selling green tea and peanut candy; the gardens of the houses at that time still had casuarina trees, banana trees, and bamboo groves, with glimpses of pigpens and chicken coops, creating a distinctly rural scene. Not so long ago, the residents of this street were mostly laborers, almost always present at factories and workshops, or gathering at bus and train stations to work as rickshaw drivers or porters… so the street was somewhat deserted and had a heavy, impoverished appearance.

A little later, the street is remembered partly for the large, two-story, privately owned house with washed stone cladding that sprang up on the south side – the house of a paint dealer; and the place where Maximark supermarket now stands was once the house of the owner of the once-famous HP battery company. For some reason, both of those houses later went bankrupt. Meanwhile, the humble eatery with the sign "Mrs. Can" on the north side of the street has persistently survived from its old, dilapidated single-story building to its spacious two-story version, yet it seems that year after year, this restaurant serves the same few customers, and the same familiar faces…

Fifteen years ago, before the opening of Ly Thuong Kiet Street (running from Vinh Bus Station to the old coal mine intersection in Dong Vinh), Nguyen Thai Hoc Street bore the heavy burden of traffic, easily serving a third of the population in the southern part of Le Loi Ward. Along with the street's beautification and improvement, Nguyen Thai Hoc Street became even more vibrant at night thanks to the duck stew and rice noodle stalls at the western end of the street, whose spicy dishes were a defining characteristic of Vinh's popular cuisine at the time.

Then, a hotpot restaurant displaying the sign "Mrs. Xoan" opened (near Mrs. Can's rice restaurant) and quickly flourished, to the point where the "Mrs. Xoan's Hotpot" brand has now expanded to many other streets. Perhaps when it comes to service development, food establishments on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street are the most likely to thrive, such as the rice restaurants, Shanghai chicken restaurants, and wild vegetable hotpot restaurants... all flourished from here, and once they attracted customers, the old, cramped restaurants simply moved to new, more spacious locations under the same brand!

However, the true hallmark of the new, modern, and well-maintained Nguyen Thai Hoc street began with the construction of Maximark – Vinh's first modern supermarket. This novel and sophisticated service once attracted city dwellers so much that children being taken to Maximark Nguyen Thai Hoc was considered a great reward for their academic achievements and good behavior; young couples in love would take each other to Maximark as a thoughtful and somewhat romantic gesture; and mothers and sisters would flock to the supermarket whenever they had free time, sometimes just to admire the sights. Now, many other supermarkets have sprung up in the city, diminishing the former hustle and bustle of Maximark Nguyen Thai Hoc, but it can be said that this supermarket left its mark on the people of Vinh.

After the Maximark supermarket, Nguyen Thai Hoc Street became widely known thanks to the Doi Cung apartment complex on its southern side. This was the second new urban apartment complex built after the Nguyen Sy Sach complex in Hung Dung, which had shaken the real estate market in Vinh. Although the Quang Trung apartment complex had been crowded for decades, the concept of "living in an apartment" with its criteria probably began to take shape in the minds of Vinh residents with the appearance of the Nguyen Sy Sach and Doi Cung complexes. But even with these apartment blocks lining the street, the facades lacked the vibrant, bustling service signs typically seen in other apartment complexes built later along main streets.

The somewhat tranquil atmosphere seems to stem from the slow pace of the street, even though many houses along the road remain unrented and not used for commercial purposes. The street isn't a specialized business; it offers a diverse range of services, though not on a large scale, including a few well-known brands like clothing stores, barbershops, and cafes. Recently, with the construction of Vinh University of Industry, along with the Doi Cung apartment complex and the Central Vietnam Investment and Development Joint Stock Company, a long, open stretch has been created on the south side of the street. On the north side, opposite the Vinh Orthopedic and Rehabilitation Center, stretching up to the old, dilapidated apartment buildings from the subsidy era, is a wide sidewalk, mostly occupied by a few tea stalls with tables and chairs serving students in the late afternoon.

Businesses that have opened and established their brands are moving to more bustling locations; modern and elegant buildings are springing up, yet they retain a unique sense of tranquility; and the residents, both old and new, seem to share a relaxed and friendly demeanor... all of this creates an unexpectedly slow pace on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street, making it more endearing to its residents and leaving a positive impression on passersby, making it easy to remember the street's name.

Dinh Sam