Hanoi suffered a lot with a wave of bombings during the Vietnam War and the city is moving beyond a “City for Peace” as recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
Part of Hanoi destructed by bombings in the Vietnam War
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In making the 1999 award, the UNESCO highlighted the Vietnamese capital’s efforts to preserve its cultural heritage and green spaces, its support for education, and its policies for development, all of which contribute to what it called the “establishment of a culture of peace.”
Over the past decades, the war image has gradually been replaced by a new fascination formed by peaceful images of the city’s cultural landscapes.
Hanoi becomes a city for peace now
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Hanoi is now the country’s center of economy, politics, culture, and social life. This beautiful capital strategically lies at the center of the triangular basin of the Red River with around 8 million people.
How is its transition from being devastated city to a destination of millions of foreign visitors annually? It’s strong vitality of the thousand-year-old city and great hospitality inside each citizen.
The The Huc bridge in Hanoi
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The Vietnamese people, including those in Hanoi, have long extended the hand of friendship to other peoples, mostly Americans, said former Vietnam veteran Chuck Searcy, Co-Chair of NGO Agent Orange Working Group.
What seems to attract visitors is the distinctive sense of place that this city possesses, William Steward Logan said in his book “Hanoi: Biography of a City”.
Chua Mot Cot in Hanoi
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Visitors quickly become entranced by the cultural landscape in its entirety – the whole mix of human activities, systems of meaning and symbolic forms within the physical setting of the city.
Professor Nguyen Quang Ngoc was quoted by the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) as saying that “Hanoi, once a war-torn city, always desperately aspires for peace. Hanoians commit their utmost efforts to make Hanoi a true ‘City for Peace’.”
Hanoi has evolved into a political, economic, and cultural hub of Vietnam. With its growing status internationally, strong development and preservation of traditional values, Hanoi has proven itself a true ‘City for Peace’ and a model of development, he said.
Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) in Hanoi
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Hanoi has been the only capital in the Asia-Pacific region named “City for Peace” in the last 20 years.
Hanoi is changing rapidly as a result of its development process with skyscrapers, trade centers, and urban areas. But Hanoi is working to preserve its antiquity, including the Old Quarter, 600 pagodas, and 300 recognized historical and cultural relics.
APEC 2006 held in Hanoi
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The city has recently become a popular host of world events, such as Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2006, the 132nd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 2015, the 6th Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS-6), the 10th Cambodia-Laos-Vietnam Development Triangle Summit (CLV-10), the World Economic Forum on ASEAN 2018 (WEF ASEAN 2018), and the 2nd Summit between US President Donald Trump and leader Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Trump-Kim summit held in Hanoi in 2019
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The hosting of a much-heralded summit between the US and the DPRK has reminded the world’s media, residents, and the thousands of visitors of the city’s status as an official City for Peace.
Professor Duong Van Quang told VOV that “The hosting of the second Trump-Kim summit illustrates Vietnam’s successful foreign policy and international integration, its bolder prestige in the world arena, and capability to host other world events. It also symbolizes Vietnam’s peace diplomacy.”
Foreign visitors to Hanoi
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Hanoi now is a popular tourist destination. Rory Linnane from Britain has been to Hanoi several times in the past decade. He said he has been attracted by its tranquility, modernization, and antiquity. “Hanoi is a wonderful place for people to meet. People here are very welcoming. Vietnam has changed a lot and it’s good to see that”, Linnane said.
