With nowadays hustle and bustle life, Hanoi is known as a destination of old, peaceful, and profound beauty. That beauty is the inspiration for artists to create their artworks. The most iconic “results” of their passion are the Ceramic road and Phung Hung mural street embellishes with its gorgeous appearance and a bit of nostalgia, attracting tourists from all over the world.
 

Mural street project was started from November 2018, after 3 months of execution, Phung Hung mural street had been completed under the warm welcome of people. Nineteen vault murals were created by both Vietnamese and Korean artists. Before then, the project was delayed for a while because some Vietnamese artists’ works failed to get the approval of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism. They were asked to edit the content or change another image. 

The 19 vault murals have acted out a part of the old Hanoi’s life. Coming to Hanoi, especially the mural street, tourists can see Hanoi’s symbolic images on the wall such as small grocery stores, women carrying a bamboo yoke of flowers on her shoulder, tinkling trams, Tet holiday. These are all the beauties of the capital back in former times. 
 

There are paintings on the street's wall 

The artists used PU and Golden acrylics to draw the murals with a durability of 5 to 10 years, pasted it to the vaults in order not to affect the construction’s structure. Before drawing, the materials used to paint were all processed with a waterproof layer behind. Among these works, there are some murals were painted in 3 dimensions to form an effective interaction with the viewers. All of it evokes the nostalgia for both the local and tourists can easily receive Hanoi’s cultural value and history in a natural way.

Coming to Hanoi, don’t forget to stop by this mural street to enjoy the works of art which depict successfully the message of Vietnam’s capital. A thousand-year-old Hanoi is facing major changes. Yet, the city still upholds the spirit of tradition and culture to impress Vietnamese people and the friends around the world on their memory. 
 

The paintings base on Hanoi iconic pictures of people daily life 

With a length of 200 meters, Phung Hung mural street, which is close to Dong Xuan market, Hang Ma street, Hang Luoc street, is considered as a site for cultural exchanges. There are many entertainment activities, traditional folk games and performances held on the street. Phung Hung mural street is also a place connecting history and memory of Hanoi to the contemporary art right in the common space for the public.
 
At the weekends, children can come here with their families to play traditional folk games. The elderly goes there for contemplating the murals and think of their old days. The youngsters get their friends to take selfies, save the lovely moments of their youth. In addition, tables of tea and some traditional confectionary are displayed for the tourists to take a rest and photos like banh phu the (literally “husband and wife cake”, a sweet cake made of rice or tapioca flour and gelatin, filled with mung bean paste; also spelled banh xu xe), peanut brittle (a traditional candy made from roasted peanut, sugar and malt) and so on. 
 

The locals decorate the street with different themes depending on the occasions.

Phung Hung mural street partly contributes to honor, uphold, and bring into play the social value of urban heritage of Hanoi Old Quarter. At the same time, it creates a new public space for the citizens, tourists in Hanoi. Paying this mural street a visit is also a chance for the public art works come closer to the people. 

For a long time, the art of assembling ceramic pieces into paintings, which use to decorate the walls, pillars, … has been favored all around the world due to its incredible endurance and the artistic beauty. Many places use this kind of art in order to make the sites more tempting and it has contributed enormously to the artistic outdoor events that serve the community. Realizing the positive side as well as the potential of this style of art, journalist/artist Nguyen Thu Thuy went on completing the project “Ceramic road on the side of Hong river”. This was a gift dedicated to Thang Long – Ha Noi in its 1000th year anniversary.

The project “Ceramic Road” was first started by the idea of journalist/artist Nguyen Thu Thuy with the purpose of beautifying a public site with traditional ceramic through the hands of modern day artists. The project went into reality from 2007, covered a length of 4 kilometers and an acreage of 7000 square meters. Each square meter of wall paintings used approximately 1000 pieces of ceramic with the acreage of 3x3 centimeters. The road begins from An Duong gate on Yen Phu street, goes along the streets Tran Nhat Duat, Tran Quang Khai, Tran Khanh Du and all the way to the gate of Van Kiep. 
 

A part of the ceramic road after the project finished

According to journalist/artist Nguyen Thu Thuy, most of the funds poured into the structure came from the community, social investments and even the couple’s own money. Both of them spent a huge chunk of their fortune to maintain the project in its first days. Her husband, Mr. Cuong even had to sold his antique cars – his passion, in order to invest to the ceramic road along with his wife. “We did it without any personal gains besides unconditional love for Hanoi and the desire of improving the people’s living space, as well as promoting the traditional Vietnamese ceramic pottery to the world, and with the help from the community, the project turned out to be a huge success.”

Also according to Mrs. Thuy, during the 4 years of commencing the project, the Ceramic Road has attracted the participation of 20 domestic artists along with 15 foreign artists from various nations such as Denmark, France, Netherlands, Spain, Italia, England, USA, Argentina. Moreover, there were more than 100 artists, craftsmen from the pottery villages, and more than 500 citizens, including students and children have taken part in the project. 

The road was divided into 21 parts: The 1st part honored the traditional artists’ legacies through various times in history, ever since the age of Dong Son to the Ly, Tran, Le, Nguyen dynasty along with a large image of a Ly dynasty styled dragon with the description “A thousand years of Thang Long – Hanoi” at the intersection of Chuong Duong Bridge. The 2nd part of the road represents the famous traditional patterns often found on clothes and architectural structures from 54 races in Vietnam. The 3rd part contains the paintings made by the Vietnamese children with the theme “Hanoi – The city of peace”. The parts from the 4th to the 9th are the modern day ceramic paintings made by both domestic and foreign artists, …
 

The colorful ceramic pictures running along the street

After 4 years, we finally have a colorful Ceramic Road, replacing the old and destructed concrete walls before. The Ceramic Road truly represents the assembled love to Hanoi – the heart of the country, from all around the world. The Guiness have recognized and certified the Ceramic Road of Hanoi as the largest ceramic assembled painting for the part from An Duong gate to Tan Ap gate. 

The Ceramic Road by the side of Hong river is the first public structure in Hanoi that actually has many special meanings. Ever since the completion of the road, not only Hanoi has a precious gift dedicated to the 1000th year anniversary, but also the people of Vietnam have something in the record books for them to be proud of. The road has become an important destination that tourists should not be missed when they visit Hanoi. And above all, the country’s images and its culture values are effectively promoted to the world.