Hoàn Kiếm District
in undefined, VietnamCategory: Attraction
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1 Lê Thái Tổ, Hàng Trống, Hoàn Kiếm, Hà Nội, Vietnam Print route »
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Hoàn Kiếm (Hán tự: 郡還劍; Sino-Vietnamese for Returned Sword) is an urban district (quận) of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, named after the scenic Hoàn Kiếm Lake. The lake is in the heart of the district and serves as the focal point of the city's public life.Hoàn Kiếm District is the downtown and commercial center of Hanoi. Most of the largest Vietnamese public corporations and bank headquarters are located here, but the central government offices are located in Ba Đình District (sometimes called the French quarter). The Hanoi City Committee is located on Đinh Tiên Hoàng street, adjacent to the Hoàn Kiếm lake.
The district has a distinctive North-South division among its wards. Its northern half houses the Old Quarter with small street blocks and alleys, and a traditional Vietnamese atmosphere. Many streets in the Old Quarter have names signifying the goods ("hàng") the local merchants were or are specialized in. For example, "Hàng Bạc" (silver stores) still have many stores specializing in trading silver and jewelries.
Hoàn Kiếm's southern half has distinctive French-style villas and broad avenues, and is sometimes called the "French Quarter" in modern travel literature. Some notable buildings in Hoàn Kiếm's "French Quarter" are the Hanoi Opera House, the Sofitel Legend Metropole Hanoi hotel, the National Museum of Vietnamese History (formerly the École française d'Extrême-Orient), and the Government Guesthouse. Many of the French-styled buildings in the south of the districts are now used as foreign embassies and government offices. It should be noted that Ba Đình district is also called the "French Quarter" because of the high concentration of French architecture.
