Nov 20 in Hà Nội: 7 routes honoring teachers

This Teacher's Day, instead of just a bouquet of flowers, gather your friends for a stroll around Hanoi retracing the footsteps of great teachers. Ma Xó will guide you to centenarian schools, an ancient village that produced over twenty doctoral laureates, and the homeland of an eternal teacher.

From November 12 to the end of November 21, there are 7 routes for you to choose from:

• Echoes of the Old School Drum: three schools over a hundred years old in the heart of Hanoi, from the all-girls school with its tiled-roof gate to the lakeside campus that students insist on calling by a countryside name. • The Lamp of Enlightenment: walk through the Phố cổ tracing a school that taught tuition-free, pass an attic that was once packed with students, and rest your feet with a refreshing cup of chè. • Village of the Village Scholars: wander through an ancient village along the Red River dike, visit the communal house honoring accomplished local scholars, and a pagoda that tells stories of traditional teachers who stayed behind to teach. • The Eternal Teacher: visit Chu Văn An's homeland on the 950th anniversary of Quốc Tử Giám, offer incense at the village temple dedicated to him, and savor a plate of paper-thin bánh cuốn. • In the Footsteps of the First Scholar: retrace the path of the top national scholar in Văn Miếu, walk through the gates of Virtue and Talent, and spot the math-prodigy scholar among the forest of stone steles. • Golden Marks of Honor: step through the gates of the thousand-year-old school, find the names of successful candidates on stone steles, and wrap up with a sizzling pan of chả cá. • Writing on the Azure Sky: a sanctuary of books, the stone pen tower of a Confucian teacher, the very first university campus in Indochina, and a bún chả meal to treat your former teachers.

How to play: pick a route, head to each stop, complete tasks, and take photos on the spot to unlock stories about the very place where you stand. Once completed, your travel log will keep your photos and journey stories, which you can also send as a gift to your former teachers.

A few quick notes: please dress politely and keep quiet when entering temples, pagodas, and Văn Miếu; at active schools, please only take photos at the gate and do not enter during class hours.

Open Ma Xó, look for the Teacher Appreciation Season row on the Explore tab, or type the route name into the search bar.