The big clock at Hanoi’s Hoan Kiem Lake is continuing to count down, showing it is only 270 days to go before the grand celebrations marking Hanoi’s 1,000th year are held.

The big clock at Viet Nam’s heart – Ha Noi’s Hoan Kiem (Returned Sword) Lake – is continuing to count down, showing it is only 270 days to go before the grand celebrations marking Ha Noi’s 1,000th year are held.

But local residents and visitors complain that the area around the lake is being spoilt.

A group of Vietnamese from Los Angeles, who were in Ha Noi early this week for a trans-Viet tour and looking for business, say the lake is very beautiful but its surroundings have become ugly.

“I don’t know why there are so many signposts banning things posted around the lake, it’s not a very friendly greeting for visitors,” a member of the group says.

Hanoian Nguyen Van Tai, whose house is located on a side of the lake, says, despite signposts banning football or tennis or other physical activities around the lake, many groups including those of an elderly taichi club practice next to the lake every morning.

In addition, many people from around the city also visit to play chess and do exercises around the lake.

Nguyen Quang from Chuong Duong Ward, some 3km from the city centre says he and his friends often run around the lake every morning and evening in their shorts, violating yet another regulation outlawing such skimpy clothing.

Many people even sleep on the benches around the lake during the summer and stick private advertisements on the electricity poles and trees while children and adults cheerfully ignore the ban on fishing and cycling.

Tai, who is also head of a block in Hang Dau Ward, near the lake, says authorities of Hoan Kiem District’s regulations to protect the lake and its views are good but ineffective.

“It’s a bit like inviting some friends around to your house and you’ve got signposts everywhere saying ‘do not enter’, ‘bedroom off-limits’, what would your friends think? They’d probably not visit you again,” says Tai.

“I agreed with the rules, but despite our best efforts, people still throw rubbish into the lake and graffiti on cultural monuments and historical sites every day,” Tai says.

He proposes that to manage the environment around the lake, authorities should think of effective measures which have already been successfully implemented abroad.

They include simple logos such as no smoking, no dogs and anti-littering signs instead of the long-hand written signposts currently employed.

“The most important thing is that, apart from raising awareness about the need to protect the environment, fines should be imposed on any violations,” says Tai. “When visiting Ha Noi, if you don’t visit Hoan Kiem Lake, then you haven’t actually visited the capital. The lake is an endless topic and inspiration for painters, poets, writers, and music composers, and innumerable works about the lake have been produced,” say the Vietnamese overseas visitors from LA.

Group member Duong Quang Nghi, who is a painter, says the lake has inspired him to paint several paintings on the spot to take home to encourage many of his friends to visit Viet Nam.

Hanoian scholar Nguyen Vinh Phuc says the lake is really an emerald jewel of Ha Noi. For generations, the Vietnamese believed that the lake kept a sacred sword safeguarded by a golden tortoise.

The lake is surrounded by a number of cultural and historical sites including Ngoc Son Temple, The Huc Bridge, and But Thap or Pen Tower, making it a colourful and attractive location.

“How can you miss the Turtle Tower, which lies in the middle of the lake? It acts as a form of thanks from the Vietnamese people to the Turtle God for his great assistance,” says Phuc.

VietNamNet/VNS