Being a big city and close to the sea and islands, Hai Phong is an important link in the economic and tourism triangle of Hai Phong – Hanoi – Quang Ninh. Hai Phong owns many attractive attractions such as Cat Ba, Do Son, a hot spring resort in Tien Lang,… Foreign tourists, especially European tourists, always have an interest in the Cat Ba archipelago, a beautiful island with rich forest and sea ecosystems with many attractive tourist products. However, Hai Phong tourism is not commensurate with its inherent potential and advantages. Hai Phong has not yet fully exploited its strengths in geography, nature, and people. City tourism has been and continues to have strong chances to deserving its position.
Table of Contents
General introduction about Hai Phong
Hai Phong is an important port city, an industrial and seaport center, as well as an economic, cultural, medical, educational, scientific, commercial, and technological center of the Northern Coast region. This is one of the five centrally-run cities in Vietnam, a grade I city, a regional and national center, along with Da Nang and Can Tho.
The residents of the coastal area of Hai Phong (stretching from Thuy Nguyen district to present-day Vinh Bao district) were pioneers in the exploration of creating a land called Hai Tan Phong Thu in the early years. AD when the heroic general Le Chan came here to build a base against the East Han army. But the history of formation and urban development of Hai Phong Seaport as today was only properly concerned in the second half of the 19th century when the French colonialists stepped up the process of colonial exploitation in Indochina.
Under French colonial rule, at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century, Hai Phong was on par with Hanoi, Saigon, as a tier-1 city. Being the largest seaport of Tonkin, an important traffic hub on the road. international maritime and is an industrial hub. During the Vietnam war, as the largest port city in the North, receiving most international aid and being the starting base of Ho Chi Minh Road at sea, Hai Phong became one of the Pepper hits the most. After the war ended, Hai Phong, along with Hanoi and Saigon, became one of the first three cities directly under the Central Government of Vietnam.
The red phoenix flowers are widely planted here, and the typical flower colors on the streets, also make Hai Phong known as the beautiful city of the Red Flower City. Not only an industrial port city, but Hai Phong is also one of the places with great tourism potential several Hai Phong currently preserves many architectural attractions, including traditional architecture with pagodas, communal houses, ancient temples, and French neoclassical architecture located on old streets. At the same time, Hai Phong currently owns a world biosphere reserve of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) located in the Cat Ba Archipelago, along with beaches and resorts. in Do Son. The city also has cultural features, especially food and traditional festivals.
What time to travel to Hai Phong?
Hai Phong’s weather is subtropical and warm, characteristic of the weather in the North of Vietnam, with hot and humid summers, a lot of rain, and cold and dry winters, with 4 relatively distinct seasons. Compared to Hanoi, the weather in Hai Phong is a bit different, the city is about 1 degree cooler in summer and a bit colder in winter. Please note a few timelines as below to plan a reasonable Hai Phong trip.
- From April to August is the summer of the North, the temperature is relatively high at this time, so it is suitable for vacation trips in the seas of Hai Phong.
- Do Son’s famous buffalo fighting festival takes place throughout June (lunar calendar) and the final day takes place on August 9 (lunar calendar). For those of you who love this festival remembers the timelines.
If you do not like the hustle and bustle of the tourist areas during peak occasions, you should not refuse the opportunity to come to Cat Ba in winter. Usually, there are only foreign tourists, Vietnamese tourists are not many, so you will see a different Cat Ba compared to the summer. This time is also very suitable for trekking, mountain climbing, or kayaking in Cat Ba.
Guide to Hai Phong
By Private vehicles
To travel to Hai Phong by private vehicle, you should only go by private car because there is a new expressway, so travel time is quite fast. If you intend to ride a motorbike, it should not be because the old QL5 route has deteriorated, many public cars run day and night. It only takes about 2 hours from Hanoi to get to Hai Phong, depending on your trip plans at different intersections on the expressway.
- If you go to locations in Thuy Nguyen, Vinh Bao, An Lao, and An Duong, you leave the expressway at the NH10 intersection (to Thai Binh)
- If you plan to go to Do Son, the city center, you leave the expressway at the intersection TL353 (go to Do Son, the center of Hai Phong city).
- If you intend to go to Cat Ba, you just go straight through the toll booth, after more than 1km, there will be signs leading to Tan Vu – Lach Huyen bridge to get to Got station.
By Public transport
By Rail
Hai Phong has a railway line Hanoi – Hai Phong, built by the French from 1901 to 1902, then completed and put into use. Every day from Hanoi, there are 4 trains departing for Hai Phong, travel time about 2.5-3h. If you go on weekdays, you can go from Long Bien station, if you go on weekends you can go from Hanoi station. Those who want to bring motorbikes / park them at the station should go to Gia Lam station. Train tickets you can buy online on the website of Vietnam Railways, save your e-tickets and go straight to the train. Along with Hue station and Nha Trang station, Hai Phong station – the endpoint on the journey is among a few railway stations that still retain the intact French colonial architecture.
By Road
Current bus trips from Hanoi to Hai Phong usually depart from Nuoc Ngam bus station and Gia Lam bus station, almost continuous bus, so you can go to the station at any time.
By Airplane
From most major cities in Vietnam onwards from the Central region, there are flights to Hai Phong (Cat Bi Airport) of domestic airlines. Airfares depending on the time of purchase can be purchased with prices ranging from 1,000,000 -1,500,000 VND.
Commuting in Hai Phong
By Motorcycle
If you want to wander around the city center, you should use a motorbike because many delicious restaurants in Hai Phong are located deep in markets, small alleys that only motorbikes (or walking) can. can come in. If you do not bring a motorbike from Hanoi, you can contact to rent a motorbike in Hai Phong.
By Bus
The public bus system in Hai Phong is still developing and opening more routes from now until around 2025. However, many routes are now operational and put into operation, in some If you do not have transportation, you can use the bus to save money. The bus network is currently sufficient to travel to some locations far from the city center.
By Taxi
If you come to Hai Phong by public transport, which is crowded, you can use a taxi to travel. However, taxis in Hai Phong on weekends are relatively difficult to call, holidays, or windy, sometimes the price is several times higher than normal.
Some good taxi companies in Hai Phong
- Mai Linh: 0225 3833 833
- Hoa Phuong: 0225 3641641
- Golden Swallow: 0225 3777999
- Staying in Hai Phong
Staying in Hai Phong
Hotels or motels
In recent years, Hai Phong has relatively focused on investing in tourism infrastructure and facilities to meet the increasing number of tourists coming to the city. With thousands of accommodation establishments distributed throughout the province, tourists to Hai Phong seldom fall into room fire, unable to find a place to rest.
Homestay
Along with the general trend in promoting the development of tourism products provided by the local people, homestays in Hai Phong have also begun to be rekindled and developed by many individuals. Currently, in addition to a number of homestays in the city, this form of accommodation is still concentrated mainly in the Cat Ba island area because there are more favorable conditions.
Camp
Hai Phong has a sea, mountains, and scenic spots is the ideal place for young people to organize camping and outdoor play. You can camp at some places in Hai Phong such as Thien Van hill (Kien An), Voi mountain (An Lao), or at the beaches of Do Son, Cat Ba.
Tourist Places in Hai Phong
Downtown
Hai Phong Old Quarter
The urban area of Hai Phong is very similar to a miniature Hanoi because the architecture of these two cities under the French period belongs to quite the same, only smaller in scale. Up to now, Hai Phong still retains many quarters, many works with quite intact architecture from the French colonial period. Typically in the area of Hong Bang district, there are still many streets with pretty villas, which have not been enlarged and broken overall, clean and not too crowded.
Hai Phong Opera House
The Opera House started in 1904 according to Baroque architecture. The work used to be a place of political and cultural activities for the rich indigenous people and the French army. Today, the main activities are commemoration, rally, performance,… Regular concerts for the people are held at the nearby Nha Ken flower garden.
Hai Phong Museum
Hai Phong Museum is located in the city center at 65 Dien Bien Phu, Hong Bang district, Hai Phong city, is one of the ancient architectures in the coastal city. Built-in 1919 with an area of about 1 hectare shady ancient, this is one of the architectural styles of European Gothique, which was the headquarters of the French-Chinese Bank during the French colonial period. The museum building was prepared right after the liberation of Hai Phong (May 13, 1955) and officially established on December 20, 1959, the earliest local research museum in our country. According to statistics, Hai Phong Museum is currently preserving, preserving, and displaying about 19,000 artifacts and artifacts collections of historical periods. In which, in addition to the 6 registered national treasures, there are also 1,092 antiques (773 antiquities of pottery, porcelain, stone, 279 antiquities of metal materials). In particular, among the collections, there must be the collection of precious prehistoric artifacts, with production tools, hunting tools,… of the ancient Vietnamese found in the relic Cai Beo (Cat Grandma), dated 6000-7000 years ago.
Hai Phong Cathedral
Hai Phong Cathedral is located at 46 Hoang Van Thu street. Despite being present a long time ago and having a far-reaching influence on Hai Phong. However, it was not until the 20s of the 19th century that a large-scale church was built in Hai Phong. The alley of the main church, the cathedral, built in Gothic architectural style is 47m long, 17m wide, enough for thousands of parishioners to attend the ceremony. The church bell tower is 28m high. There are also rooms where the missionaries live, guest houses, and workhouses. Through many times of upheaval, the church deteriorated, damaged, in 2000, Father Nguyen Van Hien applied to renovate, repair, and upgrade the entire church’s interior and keep the same architecture as before. Up to now, the cathedral, the bell tower, the campus has been embellished and synchronously repaired, and are some of the big and beautiful churches of Hai Phong.
Quan Hoa
Located in the center of Hai Phong, next to the Opera House, the flower shop is a work built by the French in 1944. During the time the French colonial rule still dominated our country, Director Luciani was in charge of the design. General and Gauthier Main Street are in charge of the flower shop’s artistic design. From many different designs, the French chose the model based on the architecture of the communal house of Tonkin, with 4 ironwood columns, above which are 4 tiled roofs with fish scales bent at the 4 corners. The shop has no walls, is about 20m2 wide, paved with Bat Trang bricks, each shop is 6m apart.
Cho Do
Cho Do is the common name of the Tam Bac market because it was built on the old ground of a house that fell during the war. The market is a major hub for fruits and agricultural products. The most crowded time is early morning, with the sound of buyers and sellers getting together to create a noisy space.
Iron Market
The market was built in the late 19th century, under the French colonial period with large pavilions, the main material is iron and steel, cement floor, water tower, so it is called “Iron market”. The market is located on the banks of the confluence of the Cam and Tam Bac rivers and is the largest market in Hai Phong city. Before that, this place was An Bien fair, crowded with sellers and buyers. The market is now only a few stalls below selling electronics, the rest of the upper floors are almost not active.
Hang Market
Every Sunday morning, Cho Hang street is crowded with motorcycles and cars carrying all kinds of goods and household appliances from all over the market. Goods in this area are all second-hand goods, stretching less than 200 meters from house number 465 to 517, Cho Hang street. The items are quite diverse in categories, from sophisticated technical electronics such as radio speakers, karaoke heads, televisions, wireless computer mice to compasses, screwdriver sets, and grade wires. water for hot and cold bottles,… In addition, the area also has a bonsai market where tree lovers can find almost any kind of plants and seeds they need.
Du Hang Pagoda
Du Hang Pagoda originated from Tien Le (980 – 1009). The pagoda was newly built in 1672 when Captain Nguyen Dinh Sach came from the monkhood, the legal name Chan Huyen assumed. In the Thanh Thai dynasty, in 1899, Venerable Thong Hanh restored the temple and built the bell tower. Through the times and ups and downs of history, the temple is still preserved and preserved thanks to the efforts of many generations.
Do Son
Located about 20 km southeast of Hai Phong city center, Do Son is a resort with many beautiful beaches and scenery. In addition to the charming landscape with high mountains and wide sea endowed by nature, Do Son also has many historical and cultural relics.
Do Son Beach
Do Son tourist area is endowed by nature, with many natural beaches, ideally distributed from zone 1 to zone 3. The beaches are direct to the East Sea, with lengths from 0.5 to 1, 5km, located in separate areas, and frequent sea sports activities.
Hon Dau Tourist Area
Dau Island tourist area with an artificial swimming pool is among the largest in Asia, with a bird garden, zoo, and entertainment area. Since the renovation, there has also been a “miniature Dalat” area, this area is chosen by many tourists when coming to play in Do Son.
Hon Dau Island
Hon Dau was originally adjacent to the Do Son Peninsula. During the movements of the continental shelf, a part of the mountain range separated from the peninsula gradually drifted towards the sea, becoming Hon Dau island.
Dragon Hill Tourist Area
This is a tourist complex with many services, opened on 6/2020. The whole area is built on an area of sea encroachment full of amusement parks, hotels, golf courses. The most attractive to tourists is probably the artificial beach with water filtered directly from the sea, but because it is deep inside, the water is calm, clean, and without waves, very suitable for children.
Hai An
Tu Luong Xam
This is a place of worship for King Ngo Quyen, who had merit in defeating the Nam Han army on Bach Dang River in 938. One of the things that makes the historical value of the word Luong Xam is because it preserves artifacts throughout the period. The nation’s heroic long building and national defense include 125 artifacts, antiques, and 25 ordained identities dating from 1522 to 1924. In which, many dignitaries worship Ngo Quyen as “Ngo Vuong Thien Tu” and “Supreme Spirit Great King”. In particular, there are still 3 piles in the word, which are said to be Bach Dang piles – evidence of the historic Bach Dang battle in 938.
Ha Lung Flower Village
Ha Lung flower village is located in the commune of Dang Hai ward, Hai An province, and about 6 km from the city center. This place has an ancient flower village that was formed hundreds of years ago and is one of the famous flower villages in Vietnam. The village only grows a few flowers such as chrysanthemums, coins, gladiolus,… And thanks to the fertile alluvial soil and skillful hands of experienced people, the flowers are always very large, colorful, and beautiful. a lot of tourists come and order.
For the people of Hai Phong, the Dang Hai night flower market is not only a hub to supply flowers for the whole city but also a place to keep a cultural beauty, spiritual beauty that cannot be erased in the minds of those who have. a visit.
Cat Hai
Cat Ba Island
This is an archipelago located adjacent to Ha Long Bay, off the coast of Hai Phong city. In addition to island tourism, Cat Ba is also the only place in Vietnam converging three national and international titles including Cat Ba National Park, Marine Protected Area, and World Biosphere Reserve.
Lan Ha Bay
Lan Ha Bay is located in the East of Cat Ba Island, overlooking the Van estuary, adjacent to Halong Bay. This is a very quiet, arc-shaped bay with about 400 islands, large and small creating a giant picture depicting the fairy scene. Unlike Ha Long, all 400 islands, big and small, in Lan Ha Bay are covered with green trees or vegetation, even though they are extremely small islands.
Long Chau Island
Long Chau archipelago is an archipelago made of limestone consisting of more than 30 islands, rocks, and reefs located 15km southeast of Cat Ba and 50km from the coast of Hai Phong. The lighthouse on the island was built by the French in 1894 until now, nearly 120 years have passed, but not a night has these lights stopped shining because the mission of the Long Chau lighthouse is extremely important to the port. The North Sea. This island is not a tourist destination, on the island only the lighthouse officers along with the border guards. If you want to come here, you need to bring all documents, contact the fishing boats to have a means of transportation.
Bach Long Vi
More than 100km from Hon Dau, it takes 9 hours by boat to reach Bach Long Vi, Vietnam’s most remote island in the Gulf of Tonkin. It can be said that the Bach Long Vy waters are the best fishing grounds of the Gulf of Tonkin in terms of quantity, quality of seafood, and fishing time. However, due to its location too far from the shore, the tourism potential of Bach Long Vi can not be fully promoted, currently, most curious people who want to explore this island often travel by naval ships through fishing relationships. multiply.
Kien Thuy
Mo Temple
Mo Temple, Ngu Phuc commune, built by the villagers of Nghi Duong, pays tribute to Princess Thien Thuy, who publicly established it. Princess Thien Thuy is the eldest daughter of King Tran Thanh Tong, the sister of King Tran Nhan Tong, and the name is Tran Quynh Nga. Due to her beauty and talent for poetry and singing, the princess was crowned Thai head of Princess Thien Thuy. At the age of maturing, the king’s father married Hung Vo Vuong Nghien, son of Tran Hung Dao. Because of her love for the meditation scene, going into monkhood, the princess traveled to many places, then came to Nghi Duong commune, Nghi Duong district, Kinh Mon palace to see a beautiful scene here. The princess built a small temple to worship Buddha. The princess again asked the king to reclaim the farm to help the displaced people have a place to live. At Den Mo, there is an old rice plant grown in 1284 (more than 700 years) which is recognized as a Vietnamese heritage tree.
Từ Đường Nhà Mạc
Từ Đường Nhà Mạc is a complex of historical – archaeological relics next to newly built architectural works, located in Ngu Doan commune, Kien Thuy district, which is the land of the Mac dynasty and at the same time. is the central area of Duong Kinh (the second capital after Thang Long in the Mac Dynasty and is considered by many researchers to be the first coastal capital of the Vietnamese) of the Mac Dynasty in the 16th century.
Thuy Nguyen
Bach Dang River
Located at the mouth of Bach Dang River, about 20km from the city center, Bach Dang Giang relic in Trang Kenh deserves to be a complex converging the greatest historical, cultural and religious mark in Hai Phong, one of the destinations that attract tourists from all over the world.
Mỹ Cụ Pagoda
My Instrument pagoda’s name is Linh Son Tu, located in My Cu village, Chinh My commune, Thuy Nguyen. This is considered one of the oldest temples of Thuy Nguyen district, as well as of Hai Phong city. Legend has it that King Le Dai Hanh’s parents went to Cau Tu pagoda and then gave birth to the king, that is, around the 10th century, the pagoda was built. Every year, the pagoda opens a festival on the 6th of the first lunar month. This is a village festival with a long tradition that has been maintained continuously for generations, even in war conditions, attracting a large number of people. in the participating area.
Tuyệt Tình Cốc
This area is actually a quarry located in An Son commune, due to the influence of metal, the lake around this area has a relatively beautiful green color. Since then, this is a place frequented by many young people to take beautiful pictures, but note that the road area here is relatively dusty, especially on rainy days, it will be very dirty.
Tien Lang Hot Spring
About 20km from the city center of Hai Phong, Tien Lang hot spring is located on a country tour with attractive destinations in the southern suburban districts of Hai Phong. This place has hot mineral water sprayed from the ground at a depth of 850m, temperature 54ºC is considered one of the 5 special mineral water mines in Vietnam, with high mineral content, effective in preventing and treating diseases, restoring health.
Trạng Trình Temple
This is a relic complex of nearly 13 hectares with 10 attractions, located between the wide and open space of Vinh Bao district. The complex of Trang Trinh Nguyen Binh Khiem temple relic area includes main architectural units: Nguyen Binh Khiem temple; a temple for father and mother; Trung Tan restaurant; But Kinh Thien pen tower; the grave of Nguyen Van Dinh (Nguyen Binh Khiem’s father); squares, monuments. The Trang Temple Festival is held on November 27, 28, and 29 of the lunar calendar. The festival is a unique cultural activity, with traditional rituals. Especially the festival with many interesting folk games such as traditional wrestling, chess, dragon dance, four spirit dance, boat racing, earth firecrackers, casino swing, dry puppet dance, water puppetry … has its own identity. Vinh Bao land.
Elephant Mountain
Nui Voi relic and scenic spots in the An Lao district have outstanding archaeological value; Cultural history; tourist attractions; potential in culinary culture and folklore. The historical thickness of Elephant Mountain is evidenced by stone, bronze, and iron tools excavated in the cave with many traces of the Hung Vuong dynasty. In terms of geography, geology, there are still clams and mussels clinging in caves and cliffs at an altitude of 5-10 m. In particular, the mysterious and attractive cave system.
Delicious food in Hai Phong
Seafood
Bề Bề Cát Bà
There are many superficials at Cat Ba, the features of the superficials here are big, fluffy, and shiny, so the food from the surface is always attractive. To get this unique dish, the processor must choose the surface carefully and especially, must be alive, so that when the meat is finished, the meat is intact, not crushed, broken, and creates a characteristic aroma.
Blue Crab Cat Ba
Blue crab appears quite popular in all waters of Vietnam. Blue crabs prefer to live in waters with 25-31 ‰ salinity and usually live at depths of 4 to 10m in waters with sandy, muddy sand and muddy sand bottom with dead corals. Blue crabs are currently cultured in brackish lagoons as well as in polyculture with other types of seafood in cages in Cat Ba and HaLong areas.
Squid Cat Ba
Normally, if you want to fish squid, the fishermen have to go to sea, but due to the characteristics of the deep sea, high salinity, and few strong waves, the Cat Ba sea area becomes a suitable place for squid species to live onshore,… So squid is also a popular specialty in Cat Ba. If you can buy squid that has just been caught and brought back for processing, it is really great.
Squid can be processed into a variety of dishes such as boiled, steamed, dipped, vinegar, fried, and fried. In the dried form, there is a dry squid dish, hand-tearing chili sauce to drink with beer. In the evening, you can easily find grilled squid at Cat Ba wharf.
Bàn Mai
Not as many and diverse as other types of seafood, apricot is a completely natural mollusk and is scattered in Ben Beo Bay, Lan Ha Bay. Maize is the most popular food because according to the elderly in Cat Ba, eating apricot blossoms can reduce back pain, strong bones, and especially delicious and sweetmeat. The most valuable is the hand-sized shell, fleshy, delicious, and nutritious. Maize can be processed in many ways, but the most popular, easy to make and the most delicious is the grilled fish. The apricot has been preliminarily processed, a small piece of iron to taste, served in a shell, sprinkled with oil and scallions, and then put on the grill.
Do Son Crab
Mud crab or mud crab is a common name for all crab species living in marine environments or coastal bay areas. There are many types of sea crabs: crab, crab meat, crab water for you to choose according to your preference or according to the processing requirements of the dish. Crab Do Son and crab meat are both delicious and very nutritious.
Do Son Yellow Clam
Yellow clams caught in Do Son waters are usually big, chewy, and delicious. The dishes you can enjoy are steamed clams, clam porridge, clam soup,…
Oysters
Oysters are a species of seafood with high nutritional value, often living in the rocky rapids of coastal or estuaries. In addition to the raw oyster dish, the grilled oyster with cheese and onion oil is also very popular. The dish is very simple, the oysters catch, split the shell. After cleaning, add in some cheese and place it on the grill on an embers stove.
Squid Eggs
Egg squid is characterized by a length of 5 – 12 cm, in the squid, the body is full of eggs. Egg squid can process many nutritious dishes such as grilled egg squid, fried squid with fish sauce, boiled egg squid,… dishes made from squid are sweet, attractive, and rich.
Bánh Đa Cua
Bánh Đa Cua Hai Phong’s style, the characteristic elements are the rich color of the ingredients that make up the dish (dark red color of banh mi, pink-brown of crab bricks, bright red tomatoes, color). a green sprig or water spinach, dark green of piper lolot, yellow of spring rolls and scallions), long but soft red rice cakes, and a kind of chili sauce that Hai Phong people are accustomed to call “lice Ch Can eat in the morning or evening, summer or winter also feel delicious. Many people have compared the popularity and popularity of crab cakes to the Hai Phong as well as the pho with the Hanoians, the beef noodle soup with the Hue people, and the noodle soup with the Saigon people.
Bánh Mỳ Cay
Also known as sandwiches. And no matter what you call it, you can tell a characteristic part of this bread. The reason for the name banh mi is due to the shape of the small, long bread, lying in the palm of the hand and the important thing is the crispness of the bread. Also called spicy bread is due to the characteristic spicy taste of the chili sauce eaten. The basis of the delicious taste of Hai Phong-style spicy bread (or baguettes) is in the way of processing liver pate, bread, and chili sauce.
Nem Cua Bể
Crab spring rolls in Hai Phong style are usually wrapped in a square shape in addition to the popular spring roll package. The raw materials are not much different from spring rolls processed in many regions of the North such as pork, shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear, bean sprouts,… The difference is the presence of spring rolls. Crab raw materials (a relatively abundant seafood source in Hai Phong waters) and rice cakes produced by traditional local methods. The basic requirement here is that crab spring rolls must have the characteristic taste of crab after deep-frying (the smell of crabs is not mixed with the taste of other ingredients), the shell after frying has color yellow and brittle but not scorched.
Shrimp Noodles
This is a popular dish with the main ingredient and indispensable to make this dish are big noodles (usually larger than the noodles used in crab vermicelli), fresh tiger shrimp or fried shrimp, young ribs (depending on taste that can add trotters), pork bones (tubular bone is best), celery, broccoli, mushrooms, mushrooms, dill, green onions, and spices. Depending on the taste of many people, when processing, you can use more tomatoes and bacon.
Banh Beo
In terms of popularity in street food in Hai Phong, it is on par with spicy bread. Although this dish has the same name, the way of processing it is very different from the type of cake that is often found in Hue and other provinces in Central Vietnam. Hai Phong duck cake is considered a harmonious combination of ingredients of rice flour, onion, carpentry, pork to make the cake (then poured into a banana leaf shape in a small boat to steam the water) and water. Sweet and sour dots are processed from pork bones.
Bánh Cuốn
Hai Phong rice rolls basically, the cake flour or cake filling is still the same as other localities. However, the biggest difference is that the fish sauce is dipped in rice rolls. To make typical Hai Phong rice rolls requires workers to process very carefully. As for the cake, rolls must be made from non-glutinous rice to have the required smoothness. The rolls must be moderately soft, slightly chewy, and not too soft or too soft. In terms of filling, Hai Phong rolls are also very diverse. For rice paper rolls, there are usually two popular types that are vegetarian rice rolls and meat rolls. As for the hand roll cake, the cake is somewhat more diverse, such as adding shrimp, egg,… depending on the creativity of the baker.
If Hanoi eats rice rolls with vinegar sauce, Hai Phong will eat rice rolls with simmered fish sauce. To make this fish sauce “thousands of people love”, the baker takes a lot of effort, as well as has his secrets. Fish sauce of Hai Phong roll cake is made from bone broth to get natural sweetness. The fish sauce is simmered for many hours, then seasoned to add flavor to the fish sauce. In particular, to create the typical aroma and flavor for the Hai Phong fish sauce roll, it is indispensable for Ca Cuong. This is a special feature that creates a characteristic delicious and spicy flavor that only dipping sauce in Hai Phong has.
Sea snails
Many places have snail dishes but eating snails in Hai Phong is a very different experience for gourmets. Live snails are displayed in small baskets for customers to choose from. There are all kinds of screws, jackfruit snails, snails, snails, red-lip snails,… Customers have finished choosing, the new owner starts to boil fish sauce or stir fry as required. The fish-boiled fish sauce has a strong aroma of fish sauce that penetrates deep into the snail meat. The snails are elaborately fried and add more ingredients. The spices of stir-fried snails include chili sauce, lemongrass, ginger, a few slices of chopped dried coconut,… making the dish fragrant. When snails have just ripened, people use thick-fried snail juice to make a sauce – a kind of sauce with an unmistakable taste, mixed with the spicy chili, the fat of coconut, the fragrant of ginger, lemongrass, and juicy.
Fried rice with seafood
Can also be considered a variation of the Ninh Binh burnt rice dish. The way of processing burnt rice in the seafood scorched rice dish in the Hai Phong style is not different from Ninh Binh burned rice. The main difference is in the ingredients and how to prepare the sauce eaten with the elderberry. The sauce served with Ninh Binh elderberry is traditionally made from stir-fry with heart, and goat broth. Meanwhile, the sauce used in seafood scorch is made from seafood ingredients such as shrimp, crab, squid, and tu hai. Therefore, the taste of the two dishes is also different.
Original Chinese dishes
Chinese Rice
In Hai Phong, some shops still retain the delicious and typical flavors in Chinese rice dishes. Although they are just familiar dishes such as stewed pork rice, ribs rice, beef rice … but the taste of these dishes will be a new experience for those who have never enjoyed it.
Mì Hoành Thánh
This Chinese dish is loved and sold in many areas of the city of red phoenix flowers. Each restaurant has its characteristics, in general, the bowl of noodles has golden noodles, char siu meat, frank balls,… quite delicious.
Sủi Dìn
Dumpling is a dish originating from the Chinese community living in Hai Phong. This is a street snack that is very popular with people here. The broth for making sparkling has its characteristic taste, aromatic with the pungent aroma of crushed fresh ginger cooked with molasses or palm sugar. The yellow color of the water used when watering is very eye-catching and attractive.
Bánh Cấu
The cake also has another name such as the instant “soy sauce” cake, the “soy sauce” cake is a type of cake with a dark yellow color and characteristic sweetness originating from the Chinese community living in Hai Phong before. According to local tradition, Banh Cuon is usually made in the days before Tet and can be preserved in cold weather for many days while still retaining its characteristic flavor.
Bánh Đúc Tàu
The Chinese cake originated from the Chinese people living in Saigon, then the dish was “migrated” and became a favorite dish in Hai Phong, including small pieces of molded cakes, meat, and fried shrimp. thoroughly, chopped papaya pomegranate seeds then saturated with chili vinegar fish sauce. Depending on the taste of each person, you can choose the type that is not spicy, moderate, or spicy.
Fish Noodles
Although fish noodle soup is not only available in Hai Phong, here the dishes are made by people to create their own unique, distinctive impression. That characteristic is reflected in the sophisticated way of making, selecting ingredients, making broth, and especially the blending of country flavors and sea flavors. To get a delicious bowl of Hai Phong fish noodles, we must first mention the fish selection stage. The fish commonly chosen for cooking fish vermicelli are sea mackerel and carp.
The copper fish is washed, cut into small pieces, marinated with just enough spices, then fried and fried and let dry. The broth is mainly made from pure fish bone broth, so it has a very distinctive flavor of Hai Phong fish vermicelli. For fish that are bone-filtered for the meat, crushed or pureed with a little cumin, marinated with a little fish sauce and pepper, and fried into a piece of cha. After being fried, the fish cakes will be dark yellow, thin, fragrant, and cumin. When enjoying it, diners will see that the fish cake outside is very crunchy, but the inside is soft and fragrant.
Fried crab with salt
Hai Phong mud crab is firm, sweet, meatless, has no acrid taste, and has long been a unique substance of this land. It is called salt roasting, but it is not picky and does not take much longer than boiling crabs, with just adding a few herbs such as lemongrass, coriander leaves to make crabs fragrant and reduce the fishy smell. To process salt-roasted crabs, in addition to crab and cooking oil, just add seasoning and salt powder. The salt powder is not ground salt, roasted salt, or rock salt, it is a lightly salted rice powder that, when cooked, covers the surface of a loose and loose powder that looks like salt, so if the dish is processed with This powder it is often referred to as salt roasting.
Field Crab Hot Pot
A variation of the hotpot that is already very familiar to many culinary connoisseurs. The difference of Hai Phong crab hot pot compared to many common hot pot dishes is some typical ingredients used in processing such as crab, pig (pig), fish ball (processed in Hai Phong style, usually mackerel meat), and accompanying ingredients such as red rice cakes (the type of rice cake used in crab cakes), spinach,…
Giá Bể
The price of the sea (tank price) is a mollusk, with two green, finger-sized shells but hidden inside is a layer of sweet fragrant meat (like a mussel), along with a stalk that looks like bean sprouts. Tank rack can be stir-fried and sweet and sour. We stir-fry it with garlic, add fish sauce, sugar, vinegar, and chili, and then add diluted dong powder to create a viscous consistency. Finally, put the foot of the rack on the island, north to the bowl, and sprinkle with lemon leaves, cilantro, and lemongrass roots only on top to have a bowl of stir-fried sweet and sour-sweet and delicious.
Gà Liên Minh
This is a rare chicken breed of the people of Lien Minh village, Tran Chau commune on Cat Ba island. Lien Minh Chicken has its famous for its soft, fragrant, sweetmeat, and golden crisp skin. Lien Minh chicken can be turned into many dishes such as steamed, boiled, roasted with salt, stewed, mixed with Chinese medicine,… However, the most popular dish by locals and tourists is honey grilled chicken. After cleaning the chicken, leave the whole chicken whole, spread honey, and water over the charcoal. Because the chicken is big, the baking process takes hours, the country must also have experience, stirring the skills to cook the chicken evenly and avoid burning.
Cat Ba Mountain Goat
Cat Ba goat is a grass goat breed, which was raised on a small scale by people before the war against the French. Cat Ba goat is eaten by a variety of foods in the rich and diverse nature of the island. The source of food is precious and diverse, along with foraging on the karst terrain makes goats very strong and has high resistance. That is why the goat meat is firm, with a deep sweet taste, and is more delicious than many other places.
Snacks
Sticky rice with black beans
The sticky rice dish is simply fragrant sticky rice cooked with sweet black beans, when served with sugar and onion fat but is a very famous afternoon snack in Hai Phong. Those who have never tried it can visit Luong Van Can market to find Binh sticky rice.
Pickled coconut
Pickled coconut is an Hai Phong beverage that is popular with young people. Cool coconut jelly, fatty coconut milk milk, supple pearls,… create an attractive cooling teacup.
Thạch Găng
For the people of Hai Phong, the jelly glove is a gift that brings many childhood memories. The soft, green jelly pieces, eaten with sweet-sweetened water will melt on the tip of the tongue.
Coconut Milk Coffee
Coconut milk coffee in Hai Phong is coffee that is beaten evenly, mixed with coconut milk to form a thick mixture. Then add topping with black jelly, pearls, shredded coconut, and if anyone likes, you can add a little more dried coconut.
Hai Phong Travel Schedule
Tou 1: Hanoi – Do Son 2 days
This itinerary uses public transport, if you prefer to use a family car, you can change it to suit.
Day 1: Hanoi – Hai Phong
Moving Hanoi – Hai Phong by train, you can take the train at 9 am, around noon will arrive at Hai Phong station.
Around the city enjoy some delicious Hai Phong dishes such as crab cakes, rolls, play by drinking a little coffee, and take a taxi to Do Son.
Do Son, check-in hotel, rest, then go to the beach in the afternoon. At night, walking around the sea to enjoy the wind, eat seafood.
Day 2: Hai Phong – Hanoi
If your family has children, on the 2nd day, you can let them enter Hon Di Resort, which has a large artificial pool and a pool suitable for many ages.
On this day, you can also walk around to visit some historical and cultural relics around Do Son and rent a boat to Hon Dau.
Afternoon checks out, rent a taxi back to Hai Phong station to take the train at 15h40, around 18h30 present in Hanoi.
Tour 2: Hanoi – Hai Phong – Cat Ba
This schedule uses public transport for those who do not have a private car, stop playing for 1 night in Hai Phong city and then go to Cat Ba the next day.
Day 1: Hanoi – Hai Phong
Move Hanoi – Hai Phong by train (buy a one-way ticket only), if you have time, you will take the 15h30 trip, return to Hai Phong at about 6 pm. After returning to the hotel, you can go around the city to eat and play gently. If the group is large, you can rent a taxi to Do Son to eat seafood, enjoy the sea breeze. Remember to contact the taxi to ask for the package price to go and return, without pressing the meter.
Day 2: Hai Phong – Cat Ba
- After waking up, breakfast for breakfast, you will move to Binh station, if you like fast, buy a train ticket to go directly to the island. If you like to leisurely admire the scenery, you buy a train ticket to avoid the waves + transfer car. Cars, when taking you to the center, run on a beautiful road along the sea.
- If your hotel is in the center, you can get off at the endpoint near the jetty, otherwise, remember to drive down to the nearest location.
- In the afternoon, rent a boat to Lan Ha Bay. There are many interesting places for swimming and kayaking in the bay. This, depending on the tour, will take you to the right locations.
- Evening to enjoy seafood Cat Ba
Day 3: Cat Ba – Hanoi
- On this day, you contact to buy a car ticket from Cat Ba straight to Hanoi first, buy a late afternoon trip to go out during the day.
- Get up early in the morning to find a bicycle to walk around town to enjoy the sea air, then contact me to rent a boat to Viet Hai village. Just go to Cai Beo port to ask, with reasonable prices. To Viet Hai, you can rent bicycles right at the wharf, and cycle in the village. Play bored here, you go back to the train to return to Cat Ba.
- After lunch, rest, rent a motorbike to go to Quan Y cave, Trung Trang cave, and visit Cat Ba National Park.
- Afternoon checks out, then get on the bus back to Hanoi, end the trip.
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