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Hue History
Hue was the capital of Vietnam during the decadent
19th-century Nguyen Dynasty, and it is still an important literary and
cultural center. This city 340 mi/545 km southeast of Hanoi was
dramatically affected during both wars with the French in the 1940s and
later with the Americans in the 1960s and '70s: Most of the structures
in the centuries-old citadel were severely damaged. Some of those royal
buildings have been repaired and rebuilt, including the Forbidden Purple
City, the emperor's private residence.
The city is bisected by the Song Huong, or Perfume River (named after a
scented shrub that grows there), and along its banks south of Hue lie
the many and impressive tombs of the emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty
(1802-1945). You can visit the tombs by bicycle or boat. We recommend
having your hotel arrange a longboat for you. The driver will take you
to the riverbank nearest a tomb or interesting pagoda, show you around
or wait while you explore, and then take you to the next one.
Be sure to arrange stops at Tu Duc (an extensive site with lots of
character), Minh Mang (a large and very well-preserved site), Khai Dinh
(modest in scale but quite ostentatious) and the Thien Mu Pagoda (a
lovely, seven-tiered structure surrounded by gardens).
It is not possible to walk all of Hue, but much can be seen on foot.
Always carry an umbrella, as the city has a reputation for bad weather.
Hue makes a good base for exploring the Demilitarized Zone. It's best to
see the area's historical sites (including the U.S. base at Khe Sanh,
the Vinh Moc tunnels, the Ho Chi Minh trails and the Truong Son National
Cemetery) with a guide. Various travel agencies in Hue can set you up
with one.
Getting to Hue- Vietnam
Flights: Vietnam airlines operates daily flights from
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to Hue arrive at Phu Bai Airport and it takes
about 30 minutes to get to downtown by taxi. Book the flights online on
Flight Centre
Train: Thong Nhat Express runs several journeys a day from Hanoi, Danang,
and Ho Chi Minh City to Hue. See the Vietnam Railway Corporation website
at http://www.vr.com.vn/ for
more details.
Bus or Car: Tourists can get to Hue (Ben Xe Hue – Hue bus station) by
public bus or open tour bus from most major cities in Vietnam. And of
course, it is possible to reach Hue by private cars from Danang or Hoi
an.
Must do
Take a boat down the Perfume River to visit tombs, pagodas and temples,
and a number of relics of former Imperial Capital.
Discover the former Citadel, home to successions of imperial dynasties.
Enjoy Nha nhac cung dinh Hue , one of the few intangible values
recognized by UNESSCO.
Buy a cone hat.
Highlights
Forbidden Purple City
DMZ - Demilitarized Zone
Thien Mu Pagoda, 4 km from Hue
Tomb of Tu Duc, 7 km from Hue.
Tomb of Khai Dinh, 10 km from Hue.
Tomb of Gia Long, 40 km from Hue
Restaurants in Hue
Tropical Garden Restaurant: http://www.pilgrimagevillage.com/
Bloom Restaurant: 14 Nguyen Cong Tru. Tel: 090 511 8011
Cathi Bar & Restaurant: 35 Vo Thi Sau st. Tel: +54 383 1210
Allez Boo: Pham Ngu Lao Street.
Y Thao Garden: 3 D Thach Han, The Citadel: +54 3523 018
Madarin cafe: +84 54 821 281
Travel Company
First Choice
Travel Vietnam
Hue Travel Guide
Hoi An Travel Guide
Nha Trang Travel Guide
Halong Bay Travel Guide
Sapa Travel Guide
Cruise on Halong Bay
Travel Trekking Tours
Mekong Delta Tours
Phu Quoc Island travel guide
Mekong River Boat
Cambodia Travel
Traditional products
Sinh Village paintings
Unlike the painting genres of Dong Ho in Bac Ninh Province and Hang
Trong in Hanoi, the paintings of Sinh Village in Huong Tra Dist, Thua
Thien Hue Province, are very simple with plain glyphs and traditional
colours, reflecting people’s innermost feelings, wishes and simple
dreams.
Sinh Village (its pen-name is Lai An) was located at the junction of the
Bo and Huong Rivers in Thuan Hoa in the 16th century. It has been
well-known for the traditional craft of folk woodblock painting. As is
the belief of Hue residents, each person has their own fate and they are
protected and helped by each year's genies. Therefore, people want to
worship to drive away the bad and welcome the good that leads to the
birth of the craft.
Sinh Village's paintings are very simple in lines and traditional
colours of red, green, yellow and black. The paintings are made using
just one printing-board which is created from jack wood. It is durable,
worm resistant and easy to carve to create the drawing lines and black
shapes. After being printed in black, the work is sometimes completed
with embellishments made with colorful lines. Some paintings are still
printed on rustic paper.
Tay Ho village hat marking
No one in the village Tay Ho (Hue) knows when the hat
making began but everybody feels grateful to the job that feeds the
whole village through ups and downs of history.
Not rich is the village, and the people live mainly on farming work, but
hat making helps them to live on between crops and their village girls
are famous for their beauty and dutifulness. Not only women make hats
but men build the frames. Each frame has 16 bamboo splints. Women do the
knitting and ironing the leaves, they have to do carefully in order to
retain the natural colour of the leaves and when covering, it needs
skills to make the hats fine and tight.
When finished, they put on the top a small ball made of colorful threads
the hat looks more beautiful. What make the difference of hats in Tay Ho
(Hue) lie in their delicateness, strength and poems put in between the
leaves.
In the 60s of the last century, Mr.Bui Quang Hac, a skilled hat-maker in
Tay Ho and a poet as well, fIrst put poems in between the leaves, the
hats since then were named poetic hats (non bai tho). Later on, the
villagers put in pictures featuring Hue' sceneries: Linh Mu pagoda,
Trang Tien bridge, Sampans on Huong river.
Generations have gone by, but hat-making is still retained as
profession, and the village girls, when married off, they bring with
them the job to their husbands' homelands, so from Tay Ho, poetic hats
are famous far-and-wide and closely linked to the people's daily life.
They have become the decorative for many young girls, but just made of
very simple material: coconut and bamboo leaves. What a wonder when you
meet a young girl with a poetic hat on, it is Hue', it's Vietnam
Payment & Banking
Credit cards, check, money exchange
There are a lot of Gold Shops for money exchange, but they are illegal.
It's possible to change money in the Agricultural and Rural Development
Bank it's State Office. To be more convenient and faster, you can change
them at the hotel. You can not only change your money but
also credit cards as JCB, VISA, MASTER, & AmE's Cards there. Your check
is possible to accept
Attractions Tam Giang Lagoon
A large, brackish, coastal lagoon, about 20 km long and up to three km
wide. The lagoon extends in a northwest-southeast direction parallel to
the coast, and is separated from the sea by a sandy ridge formed by
coastal deposition. The northern end of the lagoon is the mouth of O
Loan River; both the river and the lagoon open into the sea at the Thuan
An and Tu Hien channels
Vong Canh Hill
It is not so beautiful and well-known as Mount Ngu. However, as it is
called, Vong Canh Hill is a place where tourists can enjoy the lovely
panorama of Hue especially the Kings Nguyen’s tombs
Lang Co beach
With its gradually slopping, white sand beach, the average depth of less
than 1m and the average temperature in the bathing season of 25?C, Lang
Co is an ideal beach for tourists.
Hue Citadel
Hue Citadel is situated on the Northern bank of the Perfume River.
With an area of 500ha and a system of three circles of ramparts, namely
from outside to inside: Kinh Thanh Hue (Hue Capital Citadel), Hoang
Thanh (Royal Citadel) and Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden Citadel).
Tomb of Khai Dinh King
Emperor Khai Dinh came to the throne in 1916 and he chose the slope of
Chau Chu mountain (also called Chau E), 10 km from Hue, as the location
to build his tomb. The construction of the tomb was started on September
4th 1920 and lasted for 11 years
Thien Mu Pagoda
Thien Mu Pagoda is situated on Ha Khe Hill, on the left bank of the
Perfume River, in Huong Long Village, 5km from center of Hue City.
It was built in 1601, and then Lord Nguyen Phuc Tan had it renovated in
1665. In 1710, Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu had a great bell cast (2.5m high;
3,285kg) and in 1715, he had a stele (2.58m high) erected on the back of
a marble tortoise.
Hai Van Pass
Hai Van Pass is lying on National Highway No1A on the border between
Thua Thien - Hue Province and Danang City.
Hai Van Pass is like a giant dragon and which is considered to be one of
the largest frontier posts in Vietnam. The name De Nhat Hung Quan,
meaning the most colossal frontier post, is engraved on an incense
burner in Thai Temple
Bach Ma Moutain
Bach Ma (White Horse) Mountain is located in Phu Loc District, 60km from
the south of Hue City.
It is about 1,450m above sea level in a transition zone of the northern
and southern climate, so it bears a temperate climate, similar to Sa Pa,
Tam Dao, Da Lat, etc
Duong No Communal house
Communal house was built for the cult of tutelary spirits (belonging to
Phu Duong commune, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien Hue province) who are 7
talent persons of 7 lines of village traiblazing this land with some
great mandarins born here |
