1930 Bureau du Tourisme Tourist City Plan or Map of Hanoi, Vietnam

This is a c. 1930 Bureau du Tourisme en Indochine city plan or map of Hanoi, Vietnam, capturing the city as the bustling colonial capital of French Indochina (1902 - 1945). This printing of the map specifically promotes Shell Oil products and services.

A Closer Look

The map depicts central Hanoi with the Red River along the right border and the Tây Hồ on the upper left. The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long appears above and to the left of the center and is labeled Citadelle. Streets are illustrated and labeled throughout, including the Route Mandarine and the Doumer Bridge. Ninety locations across the city are numerically identified and correspond with an index below the bottom border: banks, consulates, government offices, hospitals, businesses, hotels, museums, and the botanical garden. Principal cities and towns where travelers could purchase supplies are listed above the top border.

Advertising for Shell Oil

This example of the map features red overprinting marking Shell service stations across Hanoi. We have encountered a c. 1925 example of this map of Hanoi that did not mark these businesses. An advertisement in the upper right corner promotes Shell petroleum products.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published c. 1930 by the Bureau du Tourisme en Indochine. The Bibliothèque Nationale de France has a map in its collection that bears the same title and was published around the same time; however, as it has not been digitized, we have not been able to confirm whether or not it conforms to the present map.