City Life

City Life.

City Life in Vietnam is very busy with millions of people on bicycles, and motor bikes rushing around. There are plenty of shops as well as hotels and restaurants.

Ho Chi Minh City is the biggest city in Vietnam. There are many beautiful buildings that were built by the French, large hotels for the tourists as well as markets and restaurants. When the festival of Tet arrives, parts of the city are full of beautiful flowers
for sale. Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam. It also has lovely buildings, a lake in the center of the city and many parks. Millions of people live in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The main forms of transport are bicycles and motor bikes. The few cars, taxis and motor bikes sound their horns all the time to get the bicycles out of the way, therefore the cities are busy and noisy. Every big city has rows of small shops, there are no department stores and people usually shop in the markets that sell everything.

Tourists and locals use a three wheeled bicycle called cyclos as a taxi. The cyclo drivers can be seen sleeping on their cyclos at night as many of them are homeless.

Along the street of the cities, a pump and a bowl of water is a bicycle repair shop, a mirror and a chair a barber shop, and a chair and a box is a shoe shine. The streets of the cities are busy with people on their way to work in shops , offices and factories.

When walking on the streets you can smell the strong scents of food being cooked at the street stalls. Bread rolls, fruit, noodles, bottled water and cigarettes are also for sale. There are many fine hotels for the growing tourist trade and restaurants are very popular with the locals and tourists.

 Most children go to school either in the morning or afternoon. The Vietnamese know it is important to get an education. After school, the children have to work long hours, and get paid little money. When there is no school, children often play in the streets. One game is when a thong is thrown, and the winner is the one who throws 

theirs closest to the first one thrown. Another game is called Da Cau where a shuttlecock type toy is kicked from player to player.

 

In the city some houses are made out of brick and have tiled roofs. The older houses are in poor condition and often have no water or electricity. Some new houses are three storeys high and are brightly painted. Many Vietnamese people live in high apartment buildings where 3 generations can live in one apartment.

By Melanie and Angela