Tourists coming to Hanoi in October have the opportunity to experience the lifestyle of Hanoians nearly 100 years ago at the ancient house at 87 Ma May in the "Stories of Hang Street" tour.
The "Stories of Hang Street" tour at the ancient house at 87 Ma May is part of a series of activities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of the Capital (October 10, 1954 - October 10, 2024). The program was organized by the Management Board of Hoan Kiem Lake and Hanoi Old Quarter in collaboration with the artists of the Youth Theater to recreate the lifestyle of a family selling medicine in the capital from 1930 to 1945.
Meritorious Artist Le Anh Tuyet of the Youth Theater, co-author of the program, said that the tour to this ancient house is already familiar. Therefore, the group of authors wanted to breathe new life into it so that visitors can truly understand the life of the family who lived in the house, instead of just admiring the ancient interior and architecture.
In the upcoming tour, visitors will be introduced to the lifestyle and traditional medicine sales activities of the former owner, directly participating in some stages such as grinding medicine, rolling medicine, heating moxa, steaming, and enjoying rustic dishes. After having an overview of the traditional medicine profession, visitors will watch the play "Stories of Hang Street" with the participation of actors from the Youth Theater.
"We have consulted and refined to recreate some common features of Hanoians during this period, not just the family selling medicine," said Ms. Tuyet.
In the photo is the scene of the son in the family of Oriental medicine using moxa for the patient.
Family selling oriental medicine, including uncle, aunt, The son studied Western medicine and was a servant in the house. At first, the son did not want to follow in the family's footsteps. However, when he saw the girl (actress on the left) fall ill and had to go to the pharmacy for treatment, he devoted himself to researching and finding a way to combine Eastern and Western medicine to save people. From then on, he also cherished his family's traditional Eastern medicine profession.
The play has almost no dialogue, mainly using body language so that foreign tourists can easily watch and understand.
The scene reconstruction was done by Ms. Tuyet and her colleagues with reference from traditional medicine practitioners, historians, and respect for history. Some ancient objects such as medicine knives were also included in the play to realistically recreate life in the ancient house at 87 Ma May.
Scene of actors using a cleaver, cutting medicinal plants into thin slices.
The inner room of the ancient house is a space for experiencing medicinal activities. In the picture, actors are reenacting the process of grinding medicinal herbs with their feet. They use a grinding boat to grind dried medicinal herbs into powder.
A corner of the garden growing medicinal plants is recreated on the main stage.
The live tour "Stories of Hang Street" will officially launch on October 9, initially only testing on weekends with 36 guests per group; there are two tours each day in the evening, lasting 45 minutes, of which the play is about 30 minutes long. The official ticket price has not been announced. Meritorious Artist Anh Tuyet hopes to bring the live tour to a wider audience in October.
In the picture is the second floor space of the old house with a three-sided bed.
Ma May Ancient House is a National Heritage Site, open all week from 8am to 5pm, and until 10pm on the weekends. About 100 visitors visit this ancient house every day.
The house has the typical space of a traditional house in the old town with a tube shape, narrow in width but very deep, the layers of houses are separated by layers of inner courtyards. The outermost layer is the shop, the road surface is not made of walls but opens to the street, used for displaying goods and communication.
On the second floor are the altar and bedroom, between the layers of the house there is a yard with potted plants, creating a feeling of closeness to nature.
The ancient house at 87 Ma May was restored in late 1998 and completed in October 1999. During the restoration, some traditional structures were altered, such as adding partitions and building a three-story house inside. However, the basic structure remained intact and the building was restored to its original appearance.
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