Hanoi

In 1010, Emperor Lý Thái Tổ moved his capital here and named it Thăng Long, Rising Dragon. Hanoi's stories run from the lake where, legend says, a golden turtle took back a sword, through Old Quarter streets named for the goods they sold, to the 82 doctoral steles of the Temple of Literature and the steel spans of Long Biên Bridge. Its food has stories too: phở with no birth certificate, rice rolls thin enough to see through, and tea scented with a thousand lotus flowers for every kilogram.