Traditions and customs in Hanoi

1. Water puppetry

An eleventh-century Red River delta art form performed by puppeteers standing waist-deep behind a screen, with a live orchestra.

• Cost: VND 100,000–200,000

2. Egg coffee at a street-front café

Whipped egg yolk and condensed milk over strong coffee, invented here during a 1940s milk shortage.

3. Tet preparations

In the weeks before lunar new year the city fills with kumquat trees and peach blossom carried home on motorbikes.

• Best time: Late January or February
• Tip: Much of the city genuinely closes for several days during Tet itself.

4. Bia hoi corner

Fresh unpasteurised draught beer brewed daily and drunk on plastic stools on the pavement, at some of the lowest prices anywhere.

• Cost: VND 8,000–15,000 a glass

5. Ao dai tailoring

The long split tunic over trousers, still worn for formal occasions and made to measure in a few days.