Nearly 3 million people visit Hanoi’s relics

About 3 million domestic and foreign visitors flocked to Hanoi in 2010, according to the city’s Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
More than 1.5 million tourists visited Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam, the first university in Vietnam and more than 1 million people visited Ngoc Son temple, Hoan Kiem Lake.
Other revolutionary relics attracted many other visitors who wanted to gain a better understanding of the capital’s history, such as the Hoa Lo Prison which hosted 132,000 visitors.
The house at 48 Hang Ngang Street in Hoan Kiem precinct where President Ho Chi Minh wrote the Declaration of Independence also received about 9,000 visitors, Van Phuc-Ha Dong about 8,000 and the Hanoi Museum about 50,000 guests.
Turnover from visitation to relics from Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam, Ngoc Son Temple and Hoa Lo Prison reached about VND25 billion in 2010.
Hanoi currently possess more than 5,000 relics. It has upgraded 249 relics at a cost of more than VND890 billion.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognised Hanoi’s docorate steles in Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (Temple of Literature) as a World Documentation Heritage, the Thang Long Royal Citadel as a World Cultural Heritage stite, and the Giong Festival in Phu Dong and Soc Temples as the World Intangible Heritage.