October 30, 2017
What to Bring Home from Hanoi
By Annie Chambers
What to buy in Hanoi
If you want to bring home a piece of the Vietnamese capital, consider one of the specialty stores or items below. Be ready to bargain (wisely) and make sure you’ve got a calculator on hand for those tricky currency conversions. Unless you want a trinket from a street peddler, do not engage in eye contact. You will be under siege. Handwoven silk items and lanterns are widely available throughout the country in case you skip shopping in Hanoi.
There’s a mix of boutiques, markets and stalls throughout the city. We find the most used and portable souvenirs are textile and fabrics.
Boutiques:
This gallery sells more than 1,000 antiques, artworks and artifacts of the country’s minority people. Each item is accompanied by a written fact sheet that provides details of the object. Categories are The Central Highlands, Tribal Textiles, The Shamanic Tradition, Functional Objects and Water Puppets, and Older Things.
Craft Link
This Vietnamese nonprofit, fair-trade organization was established to help traditional craft workers improve their livelihoods. It has three shops in Hanoi offering a wide range of items including silk scarves, bags, jewelry, clothing and home decor.
Ipa-Nima Hong Kong-born Christina Yu moved to Hanoi in the mid-1990s and started making designer handbags and accessories.Today, her Ipa-Nima brand has gone global. Her bags have been featured on the pages of Cosmopolitan and Time and have been seen on the arms of notable people such as Hillary Clinton, Jamie Lee Curtis and Cate Blanchett, to name a few. There’s a second Hanoi retail location at 5 Nha Tho St.
This chic boutique sells beautiful lanterns and silk-covered lamps, plus an array of home decor items, designer jewelry and clothing.
Markets/Misc.
If you’re in the market for an original or reproduction propaganda poster from the U.S. war with Vietnam, the Hanoi Gallery in the Old Quarter is your spot.
If you want to see silk being woven and to buy items at source, head to Van Phuc Silk Village, 6 mi/10 km from Hanoi. Skilled weavers have been producing high-quality silk there for hundreds of years.
If you seek trinkets and excitement, head to the Night Market. Open every weekend evening, central Hang Dao Street in Hanoi’s Old Quarter transforms into a bustling night market with vendors selling street food, drinks, clothing and more. There are also cultural shows. Friday-Sunday 6 .p.m till late.
[Some ideas borrowed from Travel 42]
If you love shopping and want to learn more about the local cultures, many companies offer private and group tours to explore the markets, shops and silk factories.
