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O Quan Chuong stands tall in Ha Noi's Old Quarter with its official name written in ancient Han Chinese characters just below the bell tower.
Once you pass through the gate, the street becomes Hang Chieu. It runs close to the busy Dong Xuan Market before turning into Hang Ma Street in perhaps the most atmospheric part of the capital's Old Quarter.
Many Hanoians have childhood memories of shopping trips along the busy market street and the thrill of passing through the venerable arched gateway.
O Quan Chuong was built in 1749 when the Le dynasty rebuilt the Thang Long Citadel on a war-torn fort destroyed by northern invaders.
The gate breathed life into several trades that later formed the famous streets and alleys surrounding it.
Restoration
Nguyen Doan Tuan, head of the project's management board, said officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism have visited the site and ordered workers to use the correct bricks to restore the gate.
Le Thanh Vinh, head of the Institute for Research and Preservation of Relics, said the new paint for O Quan Chuong is not right yet.
"Experts are trying to find the proper paint colours for the gate. It is very difficult," said Vinh.
Architect and former director of the Ha Noi Department for Architecture and Planning Dao Ngoc Nghiem said it's not easy to determine the original materials used to build the gate because it has been renovated many times.
"The gate's ancient and mossy image has been used in poems, and embedded in every Hanoian's memory so we should respect its former image while restoring it," Nghiem said.
He said before upgrading the gate again, relevant parties should establish a plan and use that to get an appropriate investment so that there will be more money than just the amount provided by a few organisations.
"We should immediately restore the original surrounding landscape and the original colour of the site," Nghiem said.
Architect and deputy chairman of the Viet Nam Architecture Association Nguyen Thuc Hoang agreed with Nghiem: "We should respect the site for its special place in the public's heart by taking immediate measures to bring it back to its former shape and colours." — VNS
