Travel nearly 100km from Hai Duong to Hanoi to drink lemon tea
On the afternoon of November 12, Thao and Huyen (both 22 years old) took a bus from Hai Duong, nearly 100km to a friend's house in Hai Boi commune, Dong Anh district, Hanoi , to prepare for a trip to experience a cafe that is open all night along the dike along the Red River.
The two girls said that through a friend's recommendation and the sparkling videos on social networks, Thao took advantage of the day off and invited Huyen to take a bus to Hanoi to experience this hot spot.
After more than 2 hours of driving, Thao and Huyen arrived in Hanoi on the afternoon of November 12. The two girls prepared to get dressed in the hope of having beautiful "virtual life" photos.
At nearly 9 p.m., Thao, Huyen, and Ngoc, a friend from Dong Anh, rode their motorbikes to the cafe. Contrary to what the two girls from Hai Duong had imagined, the road to the cafe was quite winding, deserted, and poorly lit. Luckily, they had a local friend with them, so they arrived safely.
“If we didn’t have friends with us, it might have taken us a while to find the shop,” Thao said. The 22-year-old said that although it was a bit difficult to get to the shop, it was all worth it once we got there.
The shop is decorated with flower trees, mixed with warm yellow lights, airy space, many beautiful photo angles, cheap drinks with a cup of lemon tea only 15,000 VND.
“I just feel a little sorry that after the storm the lights at Nhat Tan Bridge were damaged and the electricity was not as bright as before, but everything else was great,” Thao shared.
As for Huyen, she said that the trip of more than 100km to Hanoi was worth it when she could sit and admire the view looking straight into Hanoi's inner city, Nhat Tan bridge, and brightly lit skyscrapers without having to endure the cramped, stuffy space.
On the contrary, Huyen can experience cool breezes and fresh air while sitting by the river.
“There are only iron and plastic chairs here. Sitting for a long time will hurt your back. If you want to sit for a long time, you will have to rent a fabric chair for 35,000 VND/chair,” Huyen said.
However, because they have to return to Hai Duong early tomorrow morning, Thao, Huyen and Ngoc plan to stay until 11pm and leave, promising to come back on a longer holiday to experience staying overnight at the restaurant.
Like Thao and Huyen, who learned about the lemon tea shop located along the embankment of the Red River through social networks, Tuyet Linh and Hien Dan (both 18 years old), students of the Academy of Journalism and Communication, invited each other to ride a motorbike from Le Duc Tho (Nam Tu Liem) at 7:30 p.m., arriving at around 8:00 p.m. to experience the airy space here.
When they arrived, the two female students were delighted with the large space, and were even more surprised to learn that the shop was open until 6am the next day. Tuyet Linh quickly picked up the phone and informed her two friends in the dormitory that they could come out and play.
“I just called two more friends, they are on their way here, we plan to stay here until almost morning today before going home,” Linh said.
Just as excited as Tuyet Linh, Hien Dan shared that she had been to many cafes in Hanoi, but nowhere had such a comfortable space, close to the river, and fresh air.
“Although the city is beautifully decorated, space is limited. If you sit on the sidewalk, it is dusty, but if you sit inside, it is stuffy, and drinks are quite expensive. Here, I can comfortably chat without worrying about disturbing anyone,” Hieu Dan shared.
70-80% of customers are young people
Choosing the “Lemon Tea Shop on the Embankment” for their first date, Huong (18 years old, a student at the University of Education) and Son (21 years old, studying graphic design), left home at 8am and arrived at 9pm. Both of them considered this an interesting dating space.
Huong said she learned about this riverside cafe through Tiktok and had been here once a few months ago. However, it was still summer, hot, and the cafe wasn't open overnight, so the experience wasn't as comfortable as it is now.
Coming back after many months, she was delighted to know that the shop had extended its opening hours to serve customers. Moreover, the weather was gradually turning to winter, the air here was cool, pleasant, even a little cold.
Son said that his house is in Dong Anh, he has known about this cafe for a long time but this is the first time he has experienced and dated here. He was quite impressed that there are many services here such as food, drinks, bean bags, the owner even prepared blankets for customers to avoid the cold.
“The drinks here are quite diverse, including lemon tea, milk tea, coffee... priced from only 15,000-50,000 VND/cup, suitable for many customers,” Son said.
Because they had class the next day, the young couple only sat until 11:30 pm and then left.
Many young people experience drinking lemon tea all night (Photo: Nguyen Ngoan).
In contrast to the excitement of most young people coming here, Nga (20 years old) had an undesirable experience. She went from Hoang Mai district to a coffee shop along the Red River in Dong Anh, to enjoy the cold winter wind. Because she was not familiar with the road, it was dark, and she was not used to using Google Map, she and her friend got lost for a while.
“We got lost in a banana field, it was pitch black, no one was around, it was quite scary,” Nga said, adding that she had to search for 20 minutes, less than a 5-minute drive from the coffee shop, before finding the right way to go.
The two girls were about to leave when they found their way to the shop, but thinking about the fact that they had traveled nearly 30km to get here, they both pulled themselves together and went out to the main road to ask the locals. After a while of winding around, they finally arrived. However, the experience of the road made her not as excited as at first.
Entering the shop, just as Nga wished to welcome the monsoon, the evening was cold, sitting for a while Nga sneezed continuously as the wind grew stronger. Even though she prepared warm clothes, she still could not bear it and had to leave early, giving up on staying overnight as planned.
According to the reporter's records, at 11pm the shop was still crowded with young people sitting and drinking, even many couples just started coming to the shop at this time.
Staff at the "Lemon Tea on the Embankment" shop said that the shop used to open from 3:30 pm to 12 am, however, due to the large number of customers who wanted to stay overnight, from October 1, the shop extended its opening hours to 6 am the next morning.
The number of visitors here is concentrated in the evening. Every night, hundreds of visitors gather on the embankment after 9pm, more than half are young people and couples coming here for dates.
“Only a few middle-aged people, or families with small children, are locals who come to the restaurant,” said the male employee.
After midnight, families with small children and a few young people leave early, more than half of the customers stay until 1-2 am. “A few stay until the shop closes,” said the male employee.
According to the staff at the restaurant, the number of customers is highest on weekends, with tables packed with no seats left. People often stay overnight to chat, while others study or work. When the weather turns cold, the restaurant prepares an additional grill to grill corn, potatoes, eggs and hot drinks for customers.
Dantri.com.vn
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/khach-di-gan-100km-den-uong-tra-chanh-xuyen-dem-o-ha-noi-20241113115621644.htm
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