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Hang Ma Street Bustles with Crowds Ahead of Mid-Autumn Festival
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, Hanoi's Hang Ma Street has been thronged with thousands of visitors from afternoon into late night on weekends. Traditional toys and lanterns adorn shops, drawing crowds for shopping and photography.
As Vietnam's traditional Mid-Autumn Festival (Tết Trung Thu) approaches, Hanoi's iconic Hang Ma Street has transformed into a vibrant thoroughfare, bustling with thousands of shoppers and visitors from afternoon until late at night on weekends. Along the nearly 400-meter street, Mid-Autumn Festival toys are displayed in abundance, with colorful lanterns illuminating the path and creating a festive atmosphere characteristic of Hanoi. This year, a notable trend is the prevalence of traditional toys, particularly handmade paper lanterns, lion heads (đầu lân) crafted from papier-mâché, and star-shaped lanterns. The street, approximately 8 meters wide, has been aglow with lights for weeks and is particularly crowded in the evenings, especially on weekends. The to he (tò he) stall of artisan Dang Van Hau is a popular spot, attracting customers for its intricate creations made from rice flour, including lion heads, fruit platters, and star lanterns. These to he are priced from VND 50,000 to several hundred thousand dong, depending on the type. Children are drawn to spinning lanterns featuring characters like Cuội and Hằng, fish-shaped lanterns, and small star lanterns, with prices ranging from VND 30,000 to VND 70,000. Hoang Duong and Thuy Linh, who traveled over 30 kilometers from Dan Phuong commune, shared, "The atmosphere on Hang Ma Street is very joyful. We wore our ao dai to capture beautiful memories during this time." Young people frequently visit Hang Ma Street to take souvenir photos, with the vibrant colors and whimsical shapes of the toys serving as attractive backdrops. Due to the extreme crowds, some young children are carried on their fathers' shoulders to navigate the bustling street. The traditional Mid-Autumn Festival market on Hang Ma Street has long been a familiar gathering place during the eighth lunar month. It serves not only as a marketplace for toys but also as a repository of cultural practices preserved and enriched by generations. Information Source: VnExpress
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VnExpress