Foreign Frenzy in Hectic Hanoi

The 1000 year anniversary brought hundreds of thousands of people from all around the world to Hanoi for what was supposed to be a once in a lifetime celebration. Millions of dollars were poured into preparing the city to be a “magical place” with grand decorations and millions more were spent on events. While this may have helped Hanoi by bolstering nationalism and boost the local economy, in my opinion everything else was mediocre at best. Every night for ten days the streets of downtown Hanoi was littered with foreigners not really being able to appreciate Hanoi for what it really was¸ a cultural center of Vietnam and the locals abhorring the traffic and mess caused by the 10 day affair. For me everything is geared towards projecting an image of Hanoi that is not really Hanoi because the target is not towards the residence but to the international community. Inherently, during this process certain things (primarily positive) will be emphasized while less appealing things would be concealed. Unfortunately, this process of selecting certain aspects to accentuate and conceal obviously lies in the hand of the government and not the people. There are no forums into which people are able to input their feelings and opinions and subsequently, the government agenda dictates the course of action, which is true for all aspect of people’s life. While many argue that the government has lessen their grip, this is one big example of government control.

Initially, I was very excited by the 1000 year anniversary and I planned to go downtown every day leading up to 10/10/10 and after attending the first day and seeing the spectacular firework show, I was even more excited. However, my enthusiasm was not matched by my fellow peers, both Hanu students and a majority of the UC students. In fact, they were counting down the days when all the mayhem and chaos would be over. To them the 1000 is more of a hassle than celebration because it signifies congestion, filth, and a bunch of foreigners running amok. One very notable observation was that the Old Quarter was dominated by foreigners particularly at night. While there were some Vietnamese out and about, these people were generally dressed impressively and thus, I suspect they were higher class and rich folks who could afford being out and about. Besides these higher class Vietnamese, the majority of people wondering the streets at night were foreigners because the average Hanoian was busy hard at work. In a sense, the 1000 year anniversary was no longer a celebration by the Hanoians to celebrate their tradition and culture, but rather an opportunity for advertisement. This is what provided the turning point and made my opinion about the celebration change drastically. I did not want to contribute or take part in this “phony” celebration and coupled that with the congested streets, I too joined my peers in wanting it to all come to an end. Finally, that day came and besides the garbage that still litter the streets and lake, Hanoi has returned to is normal state.