Walking Across the Long Biên Bridge

Walking across the historic Long Biên Bridge is not for the faint of heart. As motorbikes blaze by and trains rumble past, pedestrians have to step along crumbling concrete slabs, with the Red River visible through the gaps, dozens of meters below.

The Long Biên Bridge was built in 1899 by a team of architects from Paris, in the same period as the nearby Đồng Xuân Market. At the time of its inauguration in 1903, it was one of the most spectacular bridges in the world.

Although it was built...