{"id":82743,"date":"2020-09-29T15:01:30","date_gmt":"2020-09-29T15:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.expatinfodesk.com\/?page_id=82743"},"modified":"2024-07-08T06:46:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T06:46:14","slug":"destinations","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.expatinfodesk.com\/destinations\/hanoi\/entertainment\/","title":{"rendered":"Hanoi Entertainment Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hanoi Entertainment Guide for Expats<\/h2>\n

Some expats find Hanoi a rich and scintillating city; others find it dull and oppressive. While Hanoi\u2019s culture and entertainment scene is probably quite different than your home country\u2019s, there are enough performances, cultural events<\/a>, art openings, museums, festivals, restaurants, dance classes, weekend excursions, traditional music concerts, restaurants, wine bars and caf\u00e9s that you don\u2019t have to spend your free time watching DVDs\u2014though there are plenty of video shops to keep you busy for months on end if you so choose.<\/p>\n

Although Hanoi suffers from a dearth of original live music, this has been on the rise for the last few years. There are a few regular spots to hear rock or jazz regularly. In addition, touring international music and theater groups appear regularly in the Hanoi Opera House\u2014recently the Opera House has played host to acts as diverse as the Russian ballet, a British Shakespeare company (they performed Romeo and Juliet), the National Symphony Orchestra, and an alternative local band combining experimentation with traditional Vietnamese music.<\/p>\n

For film-buffs, there\u2019s an art-house cinema screening alternative and documentary films from around the world, as well as mainstream cinemas showing the latest Hollywood blockbusters.<\/p>\n

Hanoi is a city of caf\u00e9 culture, and many locals spend their free time sipping coffee or tea and watching the world pass by. There are thousands of caf\u00e9s in Hanoi, some built-in extravagant style, others consisting of no more than a few plastic stools on the sidewalk. Life in Hanoi happens on the street, and there\u2019s much to learn and enjoy in simply relaxing and observing it.<\/p>\n

Finally, most people with experience living abroad find that their fondest memories are of friends they\u2019ve made, rather than of what they\u2019ve done. Making friends with locals will give you unique insights into Vietnam as a place and its culture, and getting to know other expats will make all your entertainment activities more enjoyable. One of the most pleasurable activities of living in Hanoi<\/a> can be talking with a fellow expat about how crazy, exotic and beautiful this city and country are.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/3″ el_class=”city-side-bar”][vc_row_inner el_class=”sidebar-section-one”][vc_column_inner][vc_custom_heading text=”Top Tips” font_container=”tag:h4|font_size:24|text_align:left|color:%23ffffff” google_fonts=”font_family:Open%20Sans%3A300%2C300italic%2Cregular%2Citalic%2C600%2C600italic%2C700%2C700italic%2C800%2C800italic|font_style:400%20regular%3A400%3Anormal”][vc_separator color=”#ffffff” type=”full_width” thickness=”1″ up=”” down=””][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
01<\/td>\nThough there are many shopping options in Hanoi, you may find that the style or size you need is unavailable. Large western sizes can be very elusive!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
02<\/td>\nLearning Vietnamese offers an important window onto Hanoi society and culture & helps at all levels of social interaction and day-to-day convenien<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
03<\/td>\nGET OUT OF TOWN! just a weekend away can work restorative miracles. Don\u2019t wait till you feel run down\u2014plan excursions in advance and keep<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
04<\/td>\nMail delivery from overseas is not always reliable, so try to think in advance of any books, CDs, or software you may need in Vietnam.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
05<\/td>\nSet up online banking before you leave, and be sure to notify your bank you\u2019ll be using your ATM card in Vietnam\u2014otherwise they may think<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

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