Intangible Cultural Heritage– the special materials of Hanoi tourism

Together with the landscapes and historical sites; there are many types of intangible culture which create specific characteristics for Hanoi in general and the city tourism sector in particular.
Diversifying types of culture
Mr. Mai Tien Dung, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Culture, Sports and Tourism Department said: “Over the past year, U.S Travel and Leisure Magazine named Hanoi one of the best tourism cities in Asia and the city is ranked third in 2009. This is because the city possesses such rich natural resources and human culture, including the important contribution of its intangible culture”.
The city’s intangible culture was honored by many experts, and ca tru, water puppetry, ancient dances, as well as manners and customs of Hanoi make the lists.
Almost all foreigners who visit Hanoi are interested in water puppetry, a special type of folk culture. Every afternoon and evening, the Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre always attracts a large number of foreign visitors.
Moreover, 82 doctoral stone steles in Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam, the temple of literature were recognized as the world heritage documents by UNESCO. They also greet large number of both foreign and domestic visitors.
Other folk cultural types of Xam singing, Ca Tru, water puppetry, Love Duets of Bac Ninh, Dragon dance, and old dances were also favored by many foreign visitors to Hanoi.
Specific traits of Hanoi people
Together with types of intangible culture, life customs and the style of Hanoi people attract much attention from foreigners.
It is not by chance that numerous foreigners like visiting old streets because they find it interesting to discover ancient architecture and historical sites and see the day to day lives of people here.
Regarding the discovery and introduction of these types of intangible culture of Hanoi, Mr. Tran Thanh Cong, Deputy Director of Hanoitourist Travel Agent said: “Together with popular destinations and gastronomy addresses, introducing intangible culture is crucial to tours organized by the agent in Hanoi.” Mr. Hoang Nhan Chinh, Director of JIB-TNT Travel Co shared the same opinion that along with the excitement of watching water puppetry, foreign visitors are very fond of discovering the customs of Hanoi people.”
During the lunar New Year (Tet holiday), many travel agents are often busy with tours to discover the custom of greeting Tet by Hanoians or they take tourists to the outskirts of Hanoi such as Da Ton and Bat Trang.
However, intangible culture has not yet tapped into its entire potential. In the treasure of folk cultures in Vietnam, only few types of intangible culture have had in tours which serve tourists. The combination of intangible culture with tourism should be realized to give more opportunities to foreign tourists to discover Hanoi in particular and Vietnam in general.