Hanoi by night: water puppets, night market and bia hoi

An evening of ancient puppetry on water, a sprawling weekend market, and fresh draught beer on tiny stools at the busiest corner of the Old Quarter.

Area

Food & nights

Start from

Hoan Kiem Lake

Distance

walking distance

Time needed

1 evening

Best season

All year; Friday to Sunday for the night market

Difficulty

Easy

Transport

On foot

Tickets & rules

Ticket for the water puppet show

Why go

Hanoi changes after dark. The heat lifts, families come out, and the Old Quarter fills with light and noise. This route strings together three things that belong to the evening: a water puppet show, the weekend night market, and a glass or two of bia hoi, the fresh beer brewed daily and drunk on the pavement.

The puppet show is short, charming and quite unlike anything else. The night market is busy and cheerful rather than special for shopping, but it is the people that make it.

And the bia hoi corners are pure Hanoi: loud, friendly and very cheap.

The story

Water puppetry, mua roi nuoc, comes from the villages of the Red River delta and is recorded as far back as the eleventh century. Farmers performed in the flooded rice fields and village ponds after the harvest, using the water as the stage. Puppeteers stand waist-deep in water behind a bamboo screen and move the lacquered wooden figures with long poles and strings hidden under the surface.

The scenes are drawn from village life and legend: buffalo fights, fishing, rice planting, dragons spouting water and fire, and Le Loi returning the sword to the golden turtle at Hoan Kiem Lake. A small orchestra plays traditional instruments and sings the narration in Vietnamese, but the stories are easy to follow without words.

Bia hoi is a light lager brewed daily without preservatives, delivered in kegs every morning and meant to be drunk the same day. It became popular in the second half of the twentieth century as a cheap, everyday beer, and it is still among the cheapest beers in the world.

The weekend night market runs along Hang Dao street north towards Dong Xuan market from Friday to Sunday evenings, part of the larger pedestrian zone around the lake.

Getting there

The Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre is at the north-eastern corner of Hoan Kiem Lake. Book a show a day ahead in high season. The night market starts a few minutes’ walk north, and Ta Hien street, the busiest beer corner, is close by.

Everything is walkable. Take a Grab home if you are staying outside the Old Quarter.

A suggested plan

1. 18:00Walk around the lake as the lights come on.
2. 18:30Water puppet show; performances last around 45–50 minutes.
3. 19:30Wander north along Hang Dao for the weekend night market and its snacks.
4. 21:00Bia hoi on low stools at a corner bar near Ta Hien.
5. 22:30A late bowl of noodles or grilled skewers before bed.

Where to stay

In the Old Quarter you can walk home, but rooms near Ta Hien can be loud until late. Choose a side lane or the area near the cathedral.

Good to know

• Seats in the middle rows give the best view of the water puppet stage.
• Ask for bia hoi specifically; bottled beer is pricier.
• Weekend evenings are crowded; Thursday is quieter if you only want the beer.
• Try nem chua ran, fried fermented pork rolls, a classic drinking snack.