Ha Noi is the capital of S.R.Vietnam. It has an area of 921 km2 and               a population of 2,672,122 (as of 1st April, 1999). Ha Noi has a               nice and convenient location and terrain to become a political,  economic, cultural, science centre and important transport connecting          point of the country.
          The climate of Ha Noi is quite typical          for the one of the North with the tropical climate with monsoon and          humidity. In summer, it is hot with a lot of rain. In winter, it is cold          with little rain. From May to September, it is the hot and rainy season.          From November to March of the next year, it is the winter with the dry          weather. Between those two seasons, there are two transmitting periods          (in April and October). Therefore, it means that Ha Noi has enough four          seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. Annual average rainfall in  Hanoi is 1678mm.
                                                                                                                       
                                                           
 Temperature in January is 16C, in June 28C, sometimes               reaching 36C- 38C. The best season for traveling in Ha Noi is               Autumn which is very suitable to tourists coming from the Frigid               Zone.
                                                                                 
 Hanoi is the old city with its  thousand years of cultural history. Although it has experienced so many up and  down changes, Hanoi  still reserves many valuable cultural - historical vestiges,  precious heritages of ancient architectural works, including 600 pagodas and the  old quarter - which are valuable for the tourism.  To date, Ha Noi has over 300  vestiges recognized as historical and cultural ones. Besides this,   there are newly built works such as President Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum,  Friendship Cultural Palace... and the rich and diversified system of museums and  theatres (President Ho Chi Minh’s Museum, Ha Noi’s Museum, the Museum of  History, the Museum of the Revolution...).                        
             
                                                                                                                           
Ha Noi is also called the “green” city  with the lines of green different trees such as khaya senegalensis a.juss ,  arjun, sapindus, flamboyant, milk flower tree... along streets in all four  seasons. More than 300 flower gardens, parks, grass carpets and the system of  statues, water spraying towers make the beauty of the capital increasing.  Talking  about Hanoi, one cannot help talking about the beauty of the system of its  rivers and lakes. Hong river looks like a silk strip crossing the city. On the  two banks there are a lot of vestiges to tourists to visit by water. The West  Lake (Ho Tay), The Lake of the Restored Sword (Ho Hoan Kiem), Thuyen Quang Lake,  Truc Back Lake are the typical and beautiful lakes of Ha Noi, which are attached  to sacred legends of the country defense of the Vietnamese people.
                                               
The potential of Ha Noi tourism is        also shown in activities of folk culture and art. The Water Puppet is an        original and interesting national theatrics for foreign tourists who are        interested in the traditional art of Vietnam. Traditional festivals (Le        Mat Festival, Trieu Khuc Festival...), traditional trade villages (Copper        Casting in Ngu Xa, Ceramics in Bat Trang, Vong Green Rice, Ngoc Ha        flower..) and Ha Noi gastronomic culture (Pho Bo/Rice noodle soup with        beef, La Vong fried grilled fish, Thanh Tri stuffed pancakes, Pork pie...)        are highly appreciated by domestic and foreign tourists .

 Today, Hanoi is many times larger in comparison with        itself a half century ago, with the area of 921km2, consist of nine urban districts: Hoan        Kiem, Ba Dinh, Hai Ba Trung, Dong Da, Tay Ho, Cau Giay, Thanh Xuan, Long  Bien, Hoang Mai and five rural        districts: Tu Liem, Thanh Tri, Gia Lam, Dong Anh, Soc Son. The face of the  city has greatly changed. In addition to ancient architectural works, many   office towers,  trade centers, luxury hotels, new residential areas has  been built, turning Hanoi into a modern city. City's economy has growth at high  rate, concentrated  on industry, tourism, trade and services. A lot of  industrial  and processing zones has been built, attracting local and  foreign investors.
        Ha Noi is an important transport  connecting point of the whole country. It is the gathering point of 6 railway  routes, 8 road routes and the airline. This transport system connects the  Capital with provinces in the country and the world.
  The road network in Ha Noi develops  quite synchronically. Except the streets in the interior districts (260km), the  density of car roads of the city is about 220km/100 km2. Many important roads  such as the National Highways No. 1, 2, 3, 5,32 ... crossing the city to make a  close connection between Ha Noi and other provinces.
  Ha Noi is the most important and  largest connecting point of railways of the country. There are 6 main routes  gathering here, including Ha Noi - Hai phong, Ha Noi - Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Noi  - Lang Son, Ha Noi - Thai Nguyen, Ha Noi - Lao Cai, Ha Noi - Uong Bi. The  railway network has made a significant contribution to the socio-economic  development of the Capital.


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