My City

I was born in Hai Duong city. When I was 4 or 5 years old, my mother sent me back to the countryside to live with my grandmother. When I was in 3rd grade, my mother brought me back to the city to live and study. The first image of the city that caught my eye in 1994 was the interwoven antenna poles bobbing up and down when passing Phu Luong bridge, which very few houses in my hometown had, because at that time, maybe the whole neighborhood had only one TV. The city was really attractive to me at that time.

Our house was at the end of the Porcelain Company's housing complex. My mother worked as a factory worker, but she also had to do many other jobs. Yet our family was often hungry. Our meals consisted of only roasted bean dregs. The day I cut my hand, my mother comforted me with fried bean dregs - the most luxurious dish in our family at that time.

And so we grew up together with the city. We went to school twice a day on our old bicycles. In primary and secondary school, because our house was more than a kilometer away from school, sometimes we even walked. My apartment complex was poor but everyone lived together warmly.

In college, I left the city for 5 years. Hanoi also gave me many memories, but it seemed that 5 years was not enough for me to understand Hanoi and love Hanoi like someone else. The helplessness in finding a job, the noise, jostling, crowded streets and the musty, stuffy smell of the 4-level boarding house made me tired. After 5 years, I left Hanoi as an escape to return to my city of Hai Duong. And every time I got off the bus, I always felt a sense of peace.

In my eyes, the city is no longer poor. There have been many changes. Many new bridges have been built, such as Phu Tao Bridge, the new Phu Luong Bridge, Lo Cuong Bridge, Hai Tan Bridge... Then a series of new markets have sprung up, such as Hoi Do Market, the new Hai Tan Market, the new Con Market... always bustling with buyers and sellers.

Then Thong Nhat Square was built as an ideal entertainment spot. Bach Dang Street was renovated with a walkway between rows of trees, with beautiful, nostalgic chairs. Flower roads were built such as the road of royal poinciana, ban flower, and lagerstroemia... And a series of green urban area projects, including Ecorivers urban area, considered the most modern urban area in the city.

I don’t expect my city to have mountains, seas, forests, tourist areas or high-end resorts. I just want to return to the city like returning home to have warm meals with my family. Now, there is no more roasted bean dregs, no more stiff pants made from my mother’s protective sleeves, no more old-fashioned bicycle with a loose chain to go to school, no more pineapple bag swinging around to go to school and a flat stomach from hunger… but I still always want to return.

Walking in the heart of the city, I feel peaceful. Going to work, I have never had to endure traffic jams. In my free time, I like to wander around the old quarters such as Dong Xuan, Bac Kinh, Tam Giang. The ancient tiled roofs, the French architectural houses that are still preserved, the balconies with brilliant bougainvillea or orchid pots always leave a strong impression on me. There are long alleys with very special old houses. Once, stopping at a red light, I kept admiring a large cotton tree standing at the beginning of Quang Trung Street, it was strange that it was hidden in an ancient dome-roofed house right in the middle of a crowded residential area. Or house number 47 Tam Giang Street, house number 17 Hoang Van Thu - all are ancient houses that are quiet as if they do not care about the passing of time.

I love wandering around Bach Dang Park. I love the cool breeze of the lake in the summer, I love the cold mist of the lake when winter comes, I love seeing the white flowers in March, and the purple flowers, yellow butterflies, and red phoenix flowers in May on the same path. The park is a quiet and green note associated with the city as an inseparable brand. The city is more beautiful and gentle because of what this place brings.

The streets are dyed red when the barringtonia acutangula flowers bloom. Chuong Duong Street, Le Thanh Nghi Avenue, the red flowers fall along the lake like an endless carpet, soft as velvet. After a night, the flowers are still wet with dew when they have just fallen, strangely fresh. The cleaning ladies stand there, hesitantly looking at the flowers but not having the heart to sweep them away. The city is so simple yet beautiful.

Ah, talking about the city without mentioning its cuisine is really a mistake. I often invite my friends to enjoy the city's typical and quite popular dishes, some of which have been around for decades on familiar streets: Bac Son rice rolls, Ho Chi Minh Boulevard pomelo sweet soup, Tuy Hoa rice cakes, Tran Binh Trong spring rolls, Minh Khai fried cakes, grilled spring rolls, Pham Hong Thai rib rice, Le Loi tofu pudding, Chuong My bean curd, Trung Tam Thuong Thuong rib vermicelli, Hao Thanh fried sour spring rolls, Xuan Dai fried dumplings, Quang Trung yogurt...

Those are the main dishes and there are many other dishes that I would probably need another page to list them all. I am not praising myself, but friends from other provinces have come and experienced them, and do not forget to pack them back to your province if possible.

My city is 220 years old. I have been here and loved it for 38 years. And I will continue to love it!