Hanoi's Old Quarter glows as Mid-Autumn Festival approaches

Hanoi: As the Mid-Autumn Festival draws near, Hanoi's Old Quarter glows under the warm light of lanterns, with families and visitors filling Hang Ma Street to celebrate one of Vietnam's most beloved traditional holidays.

For Nguyen Thuy Anh, a 32-year-old mother, this year's celebration feels especially meaningful.

"This is my baby's first Mid-Autumn Festival, so I wanted to take him out to Hang Ma Street to enjoy the festival," she said while gently holding her six-month-old baby.

"In previous years, I usually stayed home to eat mooncakes, thinking it would be too crowded outside," she recalled. "But since having a child, I just want him to experience everything."

Recalling her childhood, she said she used to carry star-shaped lanterns and join her family at the fruit table.

"Just being together with my family, eating mooncakes, that was already happiness," she told Xinhua, adding that she hopes her child will have similar festive experiences.

In Vietnam, the Mid-Autumn Festival traditionally marks the harvest season and the year's brightest full moon, and is celebrated as a time for family reunion, gratitude and joy, especially for children who parade with lanterns under the moonlight.

Among the crowd of visitors, international tourists also stopped to admire the colorful decorations covering the street's walls and rooftops.

Wu Yangcheng, a 42-year-old tourist from China, said, "I was immediately attracted by the countless colorful lanterns hanging on those streets."

Sharing the festive atmosphere here made her feel both familiar and unique.

"Perhaps it's because China and Vietnam share many cultural traditions," Wu added.

For Jonathan Turner, a visitor who had worked in China's Hong Kong for 35 years, the celebration reflected both nostalgia and discovery.

"Everything is really beautiful, the lights are beautiful, we love the lanterns," he said, sharing his special interest in homemade mooncakes in Vietnam, which still include salted egg yolk but incorporate local ingredients that impart a distinctive flavor.

Turner said he and his wife decided to visit Hanoi partly to experience the Mid-Autumn Festival and partly to explore the charm of northern Vietnam.

Despite their excitement, their trip coincided with the ninth and 10th storms to strike Vietnam this year, which brought heavy rain and flooding to Hanoi and nearby provinces earlier this week.

For local vendors, this year's festival season brings both challenges and hope.

Pham Duc Tung, a 41-year-old shop owner who recently opened a store on Hang Ma Street after years of working abroad, said he has been testing the domestic market with festive goods.

However, the recent typhoon has slowed business activity.

"The Mid-Autumn season has been quiet because of two typhoons in the past week," he explained. "Even a few days ago, it was still subdued, and I think it will stay that way through the holiday."

Still, he remains optimistic. "It's only a short-term effect," he said.