[Audio] Dear Small Alley

In small alleys in old streets such as Beijing, Xuan Dai, Son Hoa, Tuy An... of Hai Duong city, people are familiar with the scene of many families sharing the same space to cook.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, in the heart of Hai Duong city there are still small streets and alleys that are quiet and peaceful.

Unique features of the old town

No one has counted how many small alleys there are in Hai Duong city, but if you visit the old streets such as Bac Kinh, Son Hoa, Mac Thi Buoi, Ngan Son, Xuan Dai, Tuy An, Tuy Hoa... you will see many small alleys close together, deep and dark. Many of those small alleys have dozens of households living in them, and few have only a few long-term households. Many people call those small alleys the "specialty" of Thanh Dong old town. Only in those places are there such small alleys. So small that many people often jokingly call them "one-way alleys" or "face-to-face alleys". Because if someone goes from the beginning of the alley, the person coming from the inside will have to stop and let go. Giving way is a characteristic of alleys.

Coming to the small alleys in Bac Kinh, Son Hoa, Tuy An, Tuy Hoa streets, you feel like you are lost in a maze. There are alleys less than 1 meter wide. Some have been renovated, some still retain the appearance of the old days with wooden beams and gate bars stained with time. Although old and cramped, each small alley in Hai Duong city has its own interesting things. For example, in Bac Kinh and Son Hoa streets, there are alleys that are always open to welcome visitors, while others are designed with common gates to prevent theft, such as some alleys in Quang Trung and Xuan Dai streets. There are alleys that make first-time visitors surprised because after passing through the deep, dark corridors, a vast yard opens up in the middle, surrounded by lush, green trees. This is also the common living space of the families in the alley.

Alleys in Shanhe Street, Beijing are mostly narrow, and you have to give way to each other when walking.

There are also many ancient houses, with moss-covered tiled roofs, old and worn out over the years, but they are enduring evidence of the changes of Hai Duong city. There are also winding, winding staircases, check-in and virtual living places for many young people who love the antiquity of street corners hidden behind the hustle and bustle. In those small alleys, there are households with an area of ​​several hundred square meters, but there are also houses with only a dozen square meters. There are places where almost all the households living inside the alley are from the same family, such as in alley 13, Tuy An street, all with the surname Luong Van. Or in Bac Kinh street, almost every alley is associated with a traditional medicine shop that is nearly a hundred years old...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong, who is nearly 90 years old this year, has lived and worked on Beijing Street for the same amount of time. She said: “This street used to be called Khach Street. It was a bustling commercial street and had many Chinese people living there. Later, the French came here to renovate it somewhat. After liberation, the State took it back and gave it to many families to live in. In the past, the street sold everything from clothes, shoes, food to even Chinese medicine." Continuing their profession, today the people living here still mainly do business and trade closely associated with the bustling Beijing market.

Many small alleys in Hai Duong City are also home to famous specialties. At the beginning of the small alleys on Beijing Street, there are often famous food stalls selling braised fish, roasted meat, duck vermicelli, and duck vermicelli. Right at the beginning of alley 13, Tuy Hoa Street, there is a shop selling Mr. Da's famous traditional crab rice noodles, which has attracted customers for many years. Many alleys in Xuan Dai, Tuy An, and Quang Trung have become "holy lands" for peanut candy, iced tea, dumplings, fried cakes, roasted duck, fried dough sticks porridge, etc.

The people in lane 13, Tuy An street are mostly of the same family name Luong Van.

Warm human

“The alley is narrow but the people are big-hearted,” said Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai (in alley 24, Bac Kinh street). The alley has 15 households living there, crowded and crowded. Whenever a family has a happy or sad event, the people come to support. Each person has a task, no one tells them to do it, they do it enthusiastically and in an orderly manner. Any family with a sick person or in difficult circumstances is helped by the people in the neighborhood. “Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhin’s family, whose husband recently passed away, has a difficult life, is often sick and ill, but the people in the neighborhood take care of and help them. Here, the village and neighborhood relationship is warm, loving and responsible,” Ms. Hoai said.

Many houses in the alleys of Beijing are nearly 100 years old.

In the small alleys of the city, people are used to seeing many families sharing the same space for cooking, and sharing the same narrow corridor for walking. Many households have lived here for decades, with many generations growing up together. The small alleys have always been there to witness the happiness of couples from dating, organizing weddings to when children are born. “The alleys and people’s lives are indeed true. The number of people in the alleys is the number of fates, the number of loves for each other in this lovely narrowness,” said Mr. Luong Van Trieu (in alley 13, Tuy An street).

Hai Duong City will have many changes. The old streets and alleys will be renovated and rebuilt, but I believe they will never lose their unique and interesting features.

BAO ANH