Hanoi’s millennial anniversary causes disagreement with city planners

VietNamNet Bridge – Hanoi authorities announced in early April that international visitors to Hanoi fell by 7.2 percent in the first quarter 2010. This is a bad new for the capital city when many activities are organized to celebrate its 1000^th anniversary.

The Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) explained for the fall of foreign tourists to Hanoi while the total number of visitors to Vietnam rose by nearly 17 percent by saying that “Hanoi is too busy with building works to celebrate its 1000^th anniversary. These underway works, traffic jams, etc. affected the ancient atmosphere of a 1000-year-old Asian city”.

Many infrastructure works including a belt road, overpasses, bridges or key roundabouts, and cultural works like the restoration of the Tran Quoc pagoda’s tower, the gate of Quan Thanh temple, paving the Hoan Kiem Lake’s bank and central streets, painting the front of old houses in the Old Quarter, have yet to be finalized.

Nguyen Khac Loi, deputy director of the Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, confirmed that all of these works would be completed timely. However, the some people worry that once they are finalized, Hanoi would lose its traditional beauty.

In the latest move, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently refused to implement a programme entitled “Green itinerary for Thang Long-Hanoi’s 1000^th anniversary”, reasoning that “This is a meaningful activity” but it refuses to implement to “focus on activities to celebrate Hanoi’s 1000^th anniversary”.

Previously, Hanoi cancelled the project to choose 1000 items to send to the future generation. Two years ago, Hanoi also cancelled the movie about King Ly Thai To, with estimated funding of up to 100 billion dong. It means that there are projects that the authorities can cancel though they are in the name of “celebrating Hanoi’s 1000^th anniversary”.

There are many works and products bear the name “celebrating Hanoi’s 1000^th anniversary” though they have no connection to culture, history or to Hanoi.

Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Khac Loi said: “I know many works of this kind but we can’t intervene”.

Meanwhile, many tours called “Thang Long-Hanoi’s 1000 years” are launched to attract foreign visitors but travel firms complain that there is nothing new in these tours because they still introduce visitors to the Old Quarters, Dong Xuan night market, Bat Trang pottery village, Duong Lam ancient villages.