Long Bien Bus Station at the end of Yen Phu Street, 100 years ago, was an open space where bundles of bamboo were sold, hence the locals referred to it as Bamboo Wharf.
In 2009, at the end of Yen Phu Street near the entrance to Long Bien Market (Hanoi), between the two main lanes of Yen Phu, the Urban Traffic Management Center of Hanoi’s Department of Transport inaugurated a bus station named Long Bien. This area, 100 years ago, was an open space for selling bamboo bundles, which is why it was called Bamboo Wharf by the locals.
Today, the areas once used for bamboo are now wide roads filled with residential houses and high-rise buildings.
Long Bien Bridge was completed in 1902, with two additional lanes for vehicles and an access road added in 1936. At that time, the bridge saw very few passersby. Later, a bus station for passenger transport to the northern and northeastern provinces was established, leading to heavy foot traffic during rush hours.
Initially, Bamboo Wharf consisted of just a few passenger vans, but gradually the number of vehicles increased, and the demand for travel grew, turning it into a passenger bus station known as Bamboo Wharf. After 1954, when the passenger bus station was established, it was renamed Long Bien.
This is an image of Long Bien bus station today and when it was still called Bamboo Wharf.
The boundary between Long Bien bus station and Yen Phu Street is fenced off, starting from the section opposite Hang Than Slope to the access road leading to the bridge, facing the beginning of Hang Dau Street. These images show the past and present.
Once, the banks of the Red River had many bamboo rafts; today, under Long Bien Bridge, there are scattered floating houses of the homeless living there. The old Bamboo Wharf Market is now known as Long Bien Wholesale Market.
Images of the Red Riverbank under Long Bien Bridge then and now. In the past, it was bustling with rafts transporting bamboo; now, only a few floating houses remain.
The bamboo market on Hang Dau Street in 1906, featuring sparse houses and dirt roads. Today, it has been replaced with asphalt roads, closely packed houses, and heavy traffic with motorcycles and cars lined up.
