Iced tea sidewalk - the popular culture of Hanoi

If you are a person of Hanoi, or you've lived in this land a long enough time to understand Hanoi, then do you know a very familiar image, present on every street, from the bustling streets with luxurious shopping centers, restaurants, cafes expensive ... until the alleys and side streets of Hanoi?

If you've ever wandered the streets of Hanoi, you ever spent a student's lifetime on the land of Thang Long-Hanoi, the thousand-year-old that "it" is not unfamiliar, even very familiar, but not easy to recognize. By "It" is too simple, idyllic, a village of Vietnamese culture remains strong and is living in the heart of the city. "It "that I want to say here is " iced tea in sidewalk", even some researchers of Hanoi culture refers to it as" Culture iced tea - Culture sidewalks. "

Space's "Iced Tea"

- In Hanoi, step out of the house, let your legs to the street that found ice tea. Across the street or into the depths of the alley everywhere encountered ice tea. Just thermos, a teapot, a few chairs, a vibrant smile of shop owners and of some stories. Anywhere with iced tea to go through, where it lives as happy and more poetic. Not sophisticated in the way of preparation, not picky guests drinks, iced tea pavement-friendly, simple but incredibly simple.

-  Iced tea in sidewalk appeared from early morning to late at night. Morning, beside Thanh Tri steamed rolled rice pancake dish with smoke spiral up, cup of green tea a day for work sober. That afternoon, after dinner, not including the office's men and woman, young and old should always sit to enjoy peanut candy with tea cups. At night, the friends of the meeting, rustic ice tea glass with little melon seed disk separation for particles to get close emotionally.

- Sidewalks have spacious, "view" beautiful, located near the center, convenient for watching the road, watching people, vehicles travel. No need to sign, would not need desk, iced tea in  Opera House, The Church, Tran Nguyen Han, My way ... so our people into the capital Hanoi in a very natural.

"Comfort" is just the sponge is cut into a chair or table, to the appearance of plastic chairs. However, customers are not of their lack of people who ride  high ranking motorbike even automobiles.

* Popular culture

- Not to drink is high rank, not on the "list" of Vietnam's artistic tea, ice tea though omnipresent from rural to urban. With Hanoi, sidewalk ice tea as an indispensable part, it becomes a permanent habit of making unique popular culture.

- Of course, ice tea sitting, cheap is a plus. But it is important to big "talk". They can talk freely with volume, not afraid of anyone complaining in coffee shops such luxury. And this is where the young favorites with this type of ice tea.

- The sidewalk tea shop has become a destination without an appointment of any age. Not just any sidewalk, iced tea make a way to many restaurants, even luxurious restaurants. Hanoi people still picky eating, lifestyle, and yet somehow the iced tea is so popular? People are looking to iced tea as a habit, sipping a sincere, sweet and cool down slowly in your mouth make bowel, mix in the story "no beginning and no the end" ....

- Summer, in the muggy, hot of the streets, is on the road, thrown into a roadside ice tea, ice tea drink that cool heart. After the first sip of water, the bitter taste of tea over the remaining sweet tongue. Just sit back shavings three-five minutes, enough to watch the streets, enough to hear some fun stories around. Life went on a rush that Hanoi iced tea sidewalk still the same.

- No one invite each other out ice tea shop alone but iced tea only two people or more, do not need any rules, discuss work, arguing about something, sit watching the street, lake view. One can hear the stories of ice tea "thrilling than the history" not credible, but sometimes entertaining even more laugh gala! Stories from the Gulf area, about oil prices, talk of terrorism, to talk a helmet, about bird flu, diarrhea. From the story of how doctor men, the student, about the project, topics to talk about some pedicabs, some scrubber ...

- People like iced tea because it's also convenient, not uptight, not formal. Cafe shop also select guests, student café, "hug "coffee for workers from countryside, securities cafe for investors, luxurious coffee for the wealthy aristocracy. Iced tea shop is no, no stock iced tea, no students iced tea shop, no one will hug each other in the iced tea shop ... can be found wearing a suit a few million, can also stained shorts, shirts, slippers. You can  park luxury cars  into place to sit if there are large parking, maybe only a bicycle or walk on the honeycomb yellow sandals because mortar. Nobody compel tea guests laughed softly, we can say together, there are formal sentence no can be continuous, can big laugh...

- Summer ice tea on the throne with cheap teapot prepare solid around here, adding a little water, pouring the tea for  weak suit the taste of customers add  few ice, a mouthful of iced tea actually melt at the sultry of summer in the throat.

- Winter not as cold, high and large lake wind blowing, to huddle oneself up. Not to matter, hug a cup of tea in hot in pale hands because cold, enjoy the heat spread through the hands, enjoy the hot steam through a hand, enjoy tea taste through small mouthful when tea is cool that pouring a little hot tea and no extra money. Aromatic, folk bitter , sweet tongue deposition as pleasurable in the shivering in Hanoi winter.

Not only people in Hanoi, tourists arriving from any place to the land are interested popular culture is unique. Saigon people who love the simple but warm tea of sidewalks. Foreign visitors are surprised and excited encounter people  with suits, western shoes full of chatting and drinking cups of tea and where the streets are bustling.

Simple as that, but iced tea sidewalk habit is nostalgia  of the people away from Hanoi and is a curious urge to explore with visitors coming to  thousands years culture of this land.