Hanoi Street Gets, Loses Unusual Name

Ướp lạnh, or chilled, is a welcome word in Vietnamese. Drive down the street on a hot day and even the phrase bia ướp lạnh is a divine sense of relief. There aren’t, after all, many things better than sitting on a sidewalk and enjoying an ice cold beer in the blazing Vietnamese heat.

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A few weeks ago, the Hanoi city council took this simple relief a step further by putting ướp lạnh on a street sign – the space normally reserved for war heroes and prominent historical figures – somewhere in the capital's Nam Tu Liem District, according to the Voice of Vietnam. Apparently the street once held an ice factory hence the name.

Even locals were perplexed by the name of the kilometer-long road. After growing media attention, the sign was removed on the morning of September 4, leaving as quickly as it had appeared.

According to the city council, this sign was not officially approved and did not go through the required procedures for street naming. For now, the good people of Nam Tu Liem District will just have to endure the unforgiving Hanoi heat without Uop Lanh to cheer them up.