Hanoi

In 1010 the emperor Lý Thái Tổ moved his capital to this spot on the Red River and named it Thăng Long, 'Rising Dragon'. For eight centuries it was the political and cultural heart of Vietnam, and the Temple of Literature, founded in 1070, became the country's first university. The Nguyễn dynasty moved the capital to Huế in 1802, and the city was renamed Hà Nội, 'the city between rivers', in 1831. The French made it the capital of French Indochina in 1902, building boulevards, villas and an opera house. Hồ Chí Minh declared Vietnam's independence here in 1945. Hanoi was the capital of North Vietnam during the war, was heavily bombed, and became the capital of a reunified Vietnam in 1976.

Hanoi lives on its pavements. People eat, drink coffee, play chess and gossip on tiny stools outside shops, and millions of scooters weave through the streets; to cross, walk slowly and steadily. Pho, the famous noodle soup, is a northern classic, and bún chả, grilled pork with rice noodles, became world-famous after a former US president tried it here. Try egg coffee, invented in Hanoi in the 1940s. Water puppetry, a centuries-old art performed in a pool, is unique to northern Vietnam.