Old Quarter ReviewMorning light on Phan Dinh Phung avenue
Two rows of ancient trees, red festival banners, and sunbeams straight down an empty road. Our own photograph of the avenue west of the quarter, taken on a Sunday morning.
West of the guild streets, Hanoi changes its mind about scale. Phan Dinh Phung is a grand avenue from the French era, planted with two rows of dracontomelon trees so old and tall that the road runs in green shade for most of the day.
On a clear morning the sun comes through the canopy in visible beams, and the avenue fills with photographers, couples posing for wedding pictures, and office workers slowing down on their way across town. Nothing is sold here and there is nothing to queue for. The avenue itself is the attraction.
The street is named for Phan Dinh Phung, the scholar who led a resistance movement against the French in the 19th century. Come at dawn, walk it slowly, then turn east and be back among the guild streets in about ten minutes.
See the avenue on the West Edge area page
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