The Manor - little Europe

In response to a discussion about the urban development, we had a field trip to The Manor, a magnificent Europe in Hanoi. It’d be your pride if your family owns an apartment in the Manor as it is the dream land of every Hanoiian.

The Manor was one of the first luxurious residential complexes that have been built in Hanoi. That has set a new living standard for the upper class in the capital of Vietnam as a result of urban development. However, living in one of those complexes such as The Manor is not all good. Many traditional values retained in hundreds of years by Vietnamese people have been disappeared in that small community. It is a prosperous and splendid yet isolated community. I have a feeling that the architects and the owners of the place and residents living there believe that the Manor is different from the rest of Hanoi. Even outside the Manor, on the other side of the streets, there is still rubbish laying on the sidewalks.

My first impression on the Manor is its strict security guards as they were the barrier to access to this glorious site. They said: “This area is not a tourist attraction, you can’t get in to take photos or visit without permission”, and prevented us from entering the Manor. We tried to get in at several gates and we got the same response from them. I was so frustrated and tetchy. However, those trials helped us realize that if we went separately or we looked like foreigners, we could make our way easily. Then, we divided our group into two subgroups, each explored different parts of the Manor. I asked some security guards about the Manor and they gave us some useful information about the superb complexes. A lot of Koreans and Japanese are living in those luxurious apartments, not Vietnamese. There is even a supermarket for Koreans, the K-mart. There is also a kindergarten for foreign kids only. However, the ownership right does not belong those foreigners, they are just tenants. It is a popular trend in Vietnam that wealthy and highly – ranked people in society buy houses in nice places and leave it for rent. The Manor is one of those places. I visited the Garden, too. It was so boring, it’s like a shopping mall but there wasn’t much inside.

I know that it is forbidden to visit the Manor and I have never tried to. This time, I had an opportunity to try to get inside the community to grasp an overview of it. But it wouldn’t be comprehensive because I did not know how real residents were living there. The entire way was quite tiring as I felt like melting in the heat of Hanoi, but frankly, it was fascinating.

The Manor, on one hand, is a very majestic location. On the other hand, it is breaking Hanoi culture, customs and values. Built in the centre of Hanoi, The Manor was designed as French architecture. The Manor lacks Hanoi special traits. If I were the developer, I would arrange it as a well-equipped but ancient area. I love to see the old Hanoi, nowadays, it’s not easy to gain an experience of sitting on “xich lo” and having sightseeing around the city with tranquility. You can get on a “xich lo” without a doubt, but you have to wear mask while having sightseeing, otherwise you’ll breathe in and out polluted air. I remember six or seven years ago, on a one gloomy day, my friends and I went to go around the city centre by “xich lo”. It was so peaceful. Fortunately, there weren’t a bunch of people gathering, waves of motorbike blowing on the streets, like today. Hanoi today is like a chaotic place. Hanoians are in between. However, in order to reach the development goal, we have to sacrifice and accept the challenges as well as the consequences of development.