In 1010, Ly Thai To King decided to move the capital from Hoalu to Thang Long which he christened ‘Rising Dragon’, on the banks of the Red River.
Almost a millennium later, Hanoi remains Vietnam’s political centre. The charming capital is a seductive blend of Parisian grace and Asian pace, where remains the crowded streets lined with its long and tumultuous history and where the bubbling Old Quarter combines classically with the colonial architecture of the French Quarter. Compared to Saigon (Hochiminh City), Hanoi is more traditional and refined.