Bia Hoi Corner (Ta Hien Street)

Bia Hoi Corner is the epicentre of Hanoi's street drinking culture — the intersection of Ta Hien and Luong Ngoc Quyen streets in the Old Quarter where tiny plastic stools, tiny plastic tables, and the world's cheapest fresh beer (bia hoi, brewed daily without preservatives and sold for about 5,000 VND / /bin/zsh.20 per glass) create what is probably the most democratic drinking experience on Earth.

Bia hoi is a uniquely Vietnamese institution — a light, low-alcohol lager that is brewed fresh every morning and delivered to street-side kegs by noon, meant to be consumed that day. The beer is pale, mild, and refreshing rather than complex, and the experience of drinking it — sitting on a stool 20cm off the ground, surrounded by Vietnamese workers, tourists, and the motorbike traffic that passes within centimetres of your knees — is the Hanoi experience distilled to its essence.

Ta Hien street has become the de facto backpacker and tourist drinking street (prices have risen slightly from the cheapest levels, and the crowd is more international than local), but the surrounding Old Quarter streets maintain the authentic bia hoi tradition. The evening scene — hundreds of people sitting on the street, the clatter of glasses, the smoke from grilled snack vendors — is Hanoi's answer to the European beer garden, adapted for a tropical climate and a culture that treats the pavement as a living room.