Hai Phong: City of Hidden Charms

Hanoi-based absent member, George W. Russell, says there is more to Hai Phong than meets the eye.

To many people, Hai Phong conjures up visions of smugglers and pirates. Hai Phong hit the Hong Kong headlines in May this year when a sampan-like craft from there landed at Sandy Bay and 21 Vietnamese stormed ashore, robbing and threatening residents until police rounded them up. In February, Vietnamese authorities intercepted 35 illegal immigrants heading for Hong Kong.

To be sure, Hai Phong is a tough waterfront city. Yet this bustling — and relatively prosperous — seaport boasts superb colonial architecture, a network of picturesque canals and promenades, and a busy nightlife.

More than a million people make Hai Phong home, but it suffers from competition from nearby tourist havens: Do Son is a casino town popular with Chinese visitors while Western tourists see Hai Phong as the gateway to Ha Long Bay and Cat Ba Island. Hai Phong Tourism Department director Tran Trung Dung admits the city lags behind its neighbours: “Tourist numbers and income are not matching the city’s potential,” he says.

Hai Phong is just two hours from Hanoi’s Kim Ma bus terminal along National Highway 5, the country’s best road. Buses leave every 15 minutes during the day and the fare is only 25,000 dong (about HK$12.50). Hai Phong’s Tam Bac bus station is right in the middle of town. Not far from the bus terminal is the city’s culture centre, which still features a sign honouring one J. Fonda for her kindness to Vietnam.

However, culture in Hai Phong takes a back seat to commerce. Most goods imported into northern Vietnam pass through the Port of Hai Phong — and a lot of it gets stuck there. Rampant corruption, poor enforcement and dogged middlemen ensure that cigarettes, alcohol, electrical appliances, motorcycle parts, and textiles are easily available at duty-free prices.

And the residents do like their nightlife. A popular early evening destination is the Hai Phong Club: a large bar and restaurant down a street off busy Dien Bien Phu Street. Its huge menu features delicacies such as kangaroo tail, but availability of many dishes is sporadic. No meal is priced at more than 95,000 dong (about HK$48), while draught Tiger beer is an encouraging 18,000 dong (HK$9).

Unsurprisingly, the city’s pub life has a nautical gait. On Dien Bien Phu Street itself sits Saigon Café, a watering hole preferred by younger residents and couples. Here I encountered Nguyen Viet Huy, second engineer on an oil tanker plying waters from Bangladesh to Japan. “Compared to Hong Kong, Hai Phong may be small but it’s very friendly,” he says.

A few doors further down Dien Bien Phu Street is Maxim’s, a popular late-night haunt. Most nights Maxim’s has live music, ranging from pop divas to a wannabe Vanessa Mae classical violinist. A gold-chain-bedecked crooner is a regular visitor, belting out throaty renditions of Elvis standards. Vivacious staff, clean toilets and ice-cold Tiger add to Maxim’s attractions.

For a nightcap, it was back to Hai Phong’s ritziest hotel, the Thai-managed Royal Garden Harbour View at 4 Tran Phu Street. At midnight, the lounge bar activity was winding down but a gaggle of footwear importers from Britain were among a group of foreign visitors enjoying last orders. Between Hanoi and Hai Phong are the industrial parks of Hung Yen and Hai Duong provinces, where sweatshops turn out millions of items of clothing for export.

Jan van den Berg, a Dutch shipbuilder helping Vietnam construct five search-and-rescue-vessels for its coast guard, had been in Hai Phong only two months but wasn’t encouraged by the nightlife he’d seen. “Dubai was livelier,” he says.

However, most resident expatriates make the mistake of keeping to the hotel bars and clubs. Among the charms of the city are its friendly, almost rollicking, inhabitants. The only way to get among them is to get out on the streets.