Water Puppets

This fantastic art form (see the' Punch & Judy in a Pool' boxed text) originated in northern Vietnam, and Hanoi is the best place to see it. Just on the shore of Hoan Kiem Lake is the Municipal Water Puppet Theatre (Roi Nuoc Thong Long, Pho Dinh Tien Hoang). Performances are held daily from 8 to 9.15 pm. Admission-is US$ 1.60, or US$3.20 for the best seats and a take-home cassette of the music. See Old Quarter map.

Cinemas
The National Movie Centre (87 Pho Lang Ha) is the newest and best venue to catch foreign films in Hanoi. In central Hanoi, Fanslands Cinema (84 Pho Ly Thuong Kiet) also offers Western movies, while French speakers might check out the Alliance Francaise de Hanoi (42 Pho Yet Kieu). Thang 8 Cinema (Pho Hang Bai), opposite the Immigration Police Office, also shows foreign films.

Circus
One Russian entertainment tradition which has survived and thrived in Vietnam is the circus. Many of the performers – gymnasts, jugglers, animal trainers - at Hanoi's Central Circus (Rap Xiec Trung Uong) were originally trained in Eastern Europe, though today's new recruits learn their skills from their Vietnamese elders. The circus has nightly performances from Tuesday to Sunday from 8 to 10pm in a huge tent near the northern entrance to Lenin Park (Cong Vien Le Nin); see the Central Area map, There is a special show staged for children on Sunday mornings at 9am. Entry is US$2.50.

Live Jazz
Jazz Club by Quyen Van Minh (Cau Lac so, 31-33 Pho Luong Van Can) is the place in Hanoi to catch hut live jazz (well, mostly jazz). Bar owner Minh reaches saxophone at the Hanoi Conservatory and moonlights here, jamming with a variety of musicians from his students and his talented son to top-notch international jazz players. Bands perform nightly from 8.30 to 11.30 pm. The club is located near the north-west corner of Hoan Kiem Lake.

Nightclubs
If you want to see how fashionable Vietnamese yuppies 'do the hustle', there are several local discos to check out. These places have a strung tendency to change with the wind, so ask around for what's hot or not during your visit. Most clubs have a cover charge of around US$4. In the Old Quarter, New Century Nightclub (10 Pho Trang Thi) is all the rage. This place is right out of New York, London or Paris. Club Monaco is another popular spot with local Hanoians. It's in the Royal Hotel, close to the Chuong Duong Bridge. The spacious, Magic Nightclub (3 Pho Thai Thinh) is far from the city centre, but a cool dance place entered via a boardwalk of arcade games. Being Japanese-run, it has Karaoke rooms.

Opera House
The magnificent 900-sent Hanoi Opera House, which faces east up Pho Trang Tien, was built in 1911, its painstaking three-year renovation was recently completed. It was from a balcony on this building that a Viet Mirth-run committee of citizens announced that it had taken over the city on 16 August 1945. Periodic performances are held here in the evenings. The theatre's Vietnamese name, Nha Hat Lon, appropriately translates to 'House Sing Big'. Check the listings in The Guide or Time Out to find out if anything is happening here during your stay.

Traditional Music
In the Old Quarter, the new Hanoi Spirit Club (50 Pho Hang Be) - pan of the Queen 2 budget travellers' hostel stages free traditional music nightly. Some of the best places to catch live traditional music are up market Vietnamese restaurants in the central area, like Club Opera, Nam Phuong, Indochine or Cay Cau (in the De Syloia Hotel). There is also live music performed daily at the Temple of Literature.