Houses of the living are crowded with graves of the dead right in the middle of Hanoi's 'golden land'

Many cemeteries are located among densely populated residential areas right in the heart of Hanoi .

In lane 420 Hoang Hoa Tham (Tay Ho district), an ancient tomb appears opposite a house. According to many people, this is a tomb belonging to the Yen Ninh family, Fujian, China, which has existed for a long time. Previously, the tomb was located on the ground with a complete shape, but over time, more and more houses were built, families competed to raise the roadbed, and the houses were raised, causing the tomb to have only half of the tombstone protruding above the ground.

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A larger cemetery with nearly 200 graves is located deep in lane 68/123 Cau Giay Street (Quan Hoa Ward, Cau Giay District). This cemetery is located in the middle of a densely populated residential area, with graves close to houses that have existed here for decades.

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Houses of the living are crowded with graves of the dead right in the middle of Hanoi's 'golden land' - 4

Many cemeteries do not have surrounding walls, and the graves are not neatly planned but are located right next to the road, blocking people's walkways.

Not far away, also in Cau Giay district, deep in lane 445 Nguyen Khang street is an even larger cemetery, covering hundreds of square meters with many large and small graves.

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People have to cover and paint black the windows of houses next to the cemetery to avoid seeing the gloomy scene every day.

Houses of the living are crowded with graves of the dead right in the middle of Hanoi's 'golden land' - 9

Houses of the living are crowded with graves of the dead right in the middle of Hanoi's 'golden land' - 10

Having lived next to graves for so long, many people are no longer afraid. They take advantage of the small spaces in the graves to dry clothes.

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In lane 88, Giap Nhi Street (Hoang Mai District), there are also many graves standing right in front of people's houses. Every few steps, you will see a grave next to, in front or behind, or even in the house's yard.

However, the daily life, business and trade of the people here still take place normally.

When asked, most people said they were so used to it that they were no longer afraid. They even regularly burned incense and cleaned these graves, considering them as the graves of their relatives.

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People with long experience here say that the graves have existed for hundreds of years and the relatives of the graves are mostly also from this area.

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Ms. Le Thi Huyen, who lives and runs a tea shop here, said: "In the past, there were only a few small mounds of land around this area. No one said it was a grave, so they didn't know it was a grave. They even spread mats here to feed their children on hot afternoons. But later, people competed to rebuild the graves to make them bigger, more beautiful, and more spacious. People started to have superstitious thoughts and were scared when they saw the massive cemetery. However, now everyone is used to it, because they realize that this is a place to live, and it's not easy to move elsewhere."

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People in Giap Nhi street often burn incense and clean graves around their houses on the 15th and 1st of the lunar month to express their respect to the deceased, and also to pray for a peaceful life without being disturbed by "the dead".