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Five – Penny Tea will always belong to Hanoi and Hanoians and to those who were not even born and brought up in Hanoi but are living here. From artists to lottery ticket sellers to motorbike taxi drivers… I long for Hanoi! I long for fragments of memories of Sword Lake and West Lake, of a sweet, heart-wrenching love song, of a bowl of “Trang pho” on Hang Than Street or vendors' cries wrenching the night... Words fail to wrap up the homesickness that Hanoians feel when far from home. Today I received an email from a friend last seen 60 years ago, who now lives on a distant shore. I was moved to tears by his words: "It must be over 60 years. Weren't we classmates in Hang Than Primary School? Chu Van An or Hang Cot? Perhaps both..." My heart was wreathed in memories of the old days, full of chivalry and elegance. Quang Dung must have had that feeling in his poem "Marching west ward": My eyes awake deliver dreams across borders To my lady fair in Hanoi My eyes kept roaming the next sentence: "What about the five-penny tea in Hanoi, my dear?" Alas, five-penny tea! It truly recounts the entire life, memories and spirit of you, me and all Hanoians... Five-penny tea vendors are still there, although the price is already two thousand VND (Vietnam Dong). The smoking pipe is still there, by the table, yet obsolete round straw wisps and Vendredi (Friday) cigarettes have already been replaced. A wisp of straw was lit by the first smoker, then the second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth until the straw had burned up. Smokers had to inhale deeper from the tobacco pipe, then keep the smoke in their mouths, lean the pipe, and cast it off to drive out the tar. End of Part 1, read more at Part 2. The Five Penny Tea, a feature of Hanoians Shrek More related informations about Hanoi and Hanoians can find at Asia Tourism Holiday: Vietnam Holidays. This site have lot of useful information of all destinations in Vietnam, wonderful for a Vietnam Vacations.
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