Back Society » [Video] A Tour of Saigon's 100-Year-Old Hẻm, Hao Si Phuong

[Video] A Tour of Saigon's 100-Year-Old Hẻm, Hao Si Phuong

What better way to learn about Saigon’s Chinese-Vietnamese heritage than to pay a visit to one of the city’s oldest residential enclaves?

Seen from the outside, hẻm 206 on Tran Hung Dao Street, better known by its name Hao Si Phuong, could pass for a shopfront with an uncannily huge entrance. However, after taking ten steps inside, visitors may start to feel like Alice after stumbling down the rabbit hole: the courtyard inside the hẻm seems like a separate world.

A typical alley in Saigon can lure first-time guests into a labyrinth of countless dead-ends, piles of dog poop and weirdly shaped houses. This is the product of unplanned urbanization over the years. However, the inside of 100-year-old Hao Si Phuong feels like the communal courtyard of a tight-knit extended family. I mean, how often do you hear of a hẻm in Saigon with its own name instead of a mere number?

Thanks to its unique architecture and homey atmosphere, the alley is one of the most popular places for film crews to take pictures for Saigon-based features. Most recently, Saigoneer wrote about a young couple who decided to have a pre-wedding photo shoot while dressed like their parents' generation. A large portion of the shoot took place in Hao Si Phuong.

According to Hoa Trong Ton, a 68-year-old resident of the hẻm, back in the day, the community only had Chinese-Vietnamese, or Hoa, people; but nowadays, the alley has a diverse mix of dwellers from all walks of life.

“Today every afternoon there are only elders sitting around chit-chatting, but a few decades ago, every day the entire neighborhood came to hang out and talk one another’s ear off,” Ton shared with Thanh Nien.

Have a look at the inside of hẻm Hao Si Phuong through the video below:

Related Articles

in Saigon

An Early View of a Barely Developed Saigon in the 1860s

Dropping a modern Saigoneer into the 1860s version of the city would be a wildly disorienting experience.

Khôi Phạm

in Saigon Hẻm Gems

Hẻm Gems: From a Historic D5 Shophouse, An Duyên Serves up Tasty Chợ Lớn Classics

An Duyên Chợ Lớn transcends Chợ Lớn quán stereotypes of rustic mom-and-pops with rickety amenities to provide a comfortable dining experience, made memorable thanks to aesthetically pleasing décor and...

in Culture

In Chợ Lớn, Leaf-Wrapped Rice Dumplings Abound Every Tết Đoan Ngọ

The fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar is a day of great importance in Chinese communities all over Asia.

in Saigon

Old Saigon Building of the Week: The Three-Legged Bridge of Cho Lon

Saigoneers born after the 1990s might be familiar with the term dân chơi cầu Ba Cẳng, or “the daredevils of Ba Cang Bridge”. However, not many are aware of its starting point, which originated from a ...

in Hanoi

The Rich History Behind One of Hanoi's 2 Remaining Chinese Guild Halls

With the changing gears of history, at times even the oldest layers of a thousand-year-old town must evolve to house new meanings.

in Saigon

The Story of Quách Đàm, the Man Who Shaped Modern Chợ Lớn — Part 2

By the 1920s, the old Bình Tây Market and much of the surrounding land had belonged to Quách Đàm, so he proposed to the colonial authorities the demolition of the existing building and the constructio...

Partner Content