Come to visit Nam Giao Esplanade

Emperors under feudalism often regarded themselves as "thien tu" (son of the God). Hence, to express their respect to Father God, they often held annual offering ceremonies to worship.

• The northwest market town of vietnam sapa is colorful and charming, providing the perfect oasis in the midst of a strenuous mountain trek or rice-paddy tour
• things to do in da nang includes all the major sights and activities in and around Da Nang.

Location and history

---

That's why Nam, Giao Esplanade was built by King Gia Long after being crowned, in Duong Xuan Village, south of Hue City. It was started constructing on 25th March, 1806. At the beginning of 1807, its first God worship ceremonies were held there. Among several offering terraces of previous dynasties, Nguyen's is the only one that still exists until today.

Architecture

---

The open-air monument obviously reflects the old misconception of people about the universe (circular heavens and square earth), follows the principles of Yin and Yang and also represents 5 elements of the nature: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth (in order: Kim, Moc, Thuy, Hoa, Tho).

As well, the esplanade is designed to symbolize oriental theory of 3 agents: Heaven, Earth, Man (Thien, Dia, Nhan respectively). Each is represented by one terrace with distinctive color and shape: circular blue heaven, square yellow earth. The bottom terrace is square and red-painted which stands for Man, as there is a phrase “red child” (xich tu – con do) to call the normal people. The top terrace (Heaven) is the place to hold offering ceremonies to God, Earth and Nguyen Dynasty’s ancestors and also called Vien dan. The middle one (Tung dan) is for worshipping the Sun, Moon, Stars, Cloud, Rain, Wind, Lightning, Year and Month, Mountain, Ocean, River, Lagoon, Lake, etc. and all other kinds of holy spirits throughout Vietnam. The last terrace is where to offer sacrifice.

Along with the main esplanade, there are several other building sites to support the offering ceremony like “Trai cung” (where the king stays before the ceremony), “Than tru” (the kitchen to prepare sacrifice), “Than kho” (the warehouse to place ceremony’s tools).

In the past, Nam Giao Esplanade was surrounded by a thick basalt wall which has been destructed. Pine trees were also planted around, as Emperor Minh Mang has followed his father’s tradition and asked all his sons and mandarins to plant their own pines with their name card on it and take care of their own trees.

Nam Giao Esplanade plays a very important role in religious and political life of Nguyen Dynasty. It took the Protocol and Administration Ministries many months to prepare for the ceremony. Before the sacrifice offering day, all villages and communal in Thua Thien-Hue had to complete making triumphal arches, to put alters on both sides of the route where the Emperor would pass by from Ngo Mon Noon gate to Trai Cung. During the ceremony, big flags with different colors were hung on all four doors of the esplanade: black flags on the north door, blue on the east, red on the south and white on the west. The kings often had to operate the ceremony on his owns. In case he wasn’t capable, his son or one of his mandarins would be ordered to take this task.

Today, visitors can come here to understand about the religious and political belief of Oriental feudal society in general and Nguyen Dynasty in particular, which is completely different from that of Western people.

How to get there

---

Follow Dien Bien Phu Street till the end. There stands the esplanade. Suggested means of transport include: bike, motorbike and car.

When to get there

---

The site is open for tourists all the time, but it’s highly recommended to get there when the ceremony is held.

The royal ceremony is especially often restored on the occasion of Hue Festival (in 2002, 2004 and 2006 already), to pray for a peaceful country and prosperous people. This is a particular performance you can’t find anywhere else. Similar ceremony will be held again in Festival Hue 2012, which will take place on April.

Categories: Hue

Read More

Lang Co Bay in Thua Thien Hue

Along with Ha Long and Nha Trang, Lang Co (Thua Thien – Hue) has officially become one of the most beautiful bays in the world. The ceremony took place to certificate the bay in the Setubal City – Portugal, within the framework of the fifth summit theme “Oceans connect us”.

Lang Co town belonging Phu Loc District (Thua Thien – Hue Vietnam) is a potential land by nature, beautiful landscape. Hai Van Pass with chain of mountains run to the edge of the sea. Below, Lang Co flat beach is appreciated as a tourism beach with the nearly originally natural landscape and the crystal water.

Previously, it was known as a guest stopover before crossing the Hai Van Pass. When the Hai Van Pass Tunnel was started to construct, Lang Co town became more lively and the advantage of this potential land began to be exploited.

Although influenced by the tropical storm in the beginning of annual October, Lang Co bay owned a wild, liberal, charming attractiveness like a girl in a poem. The Bay is located in the center of the Middle channel, hence,  it owns  the most perfectly curved shape, the  gentle sand bank drifting towards each sea wave, which is attracted every visitor used to land on there.

Looking away, Lang Co town also has the lagoon, which extends lap an lagoon in the area, with rich flora and fauna. Fishermen here is very active in introducing new professions in the lagoon to increase the value of income by farming snails, mussels, fish sausage, fish farming specialties with high economic value such as disks, grouper, snapper. This also means that as a basis for logistic services for tourism development.

In the future, Lang Co Resort will be developed with the growth of ecotourism, Hai Van Pass scenic tour, not just a tourism beach, also another potentials to attract large amounts of foreign tourists come to this amazing region.

Categories: Hue Vietnam-Destination

Read More

Hue Festival – Vietnam’s Most Important Cultural

Hue Festival is a very big international cultural occasion, held biannual in Hue City in the purpose of honoring the priceless historical and cultural values of Hue – the former capital city of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty.

 Hue Festival Grand Opening Ceremony in 2014

Usually, Hue Festival season occurs for a week in April, May or even June. It firstly took place in 1992 with the name of Vietnamese – French Festival, then, officially has called as “Hue Festival” since 2000. Until now, it has always seen as one of biggest cultural festivals in Vietnam coming with lots of community-based activities as well as traditional events that are formally organized both outside and inside the city of Hue. They are including Nam Giao Worshiping Ceremony, Sea Festival, Ao Dai Festival, Truyen Lo Ceremony, Kite Competition, and a lot of other interesting things.

Nam Giao Worshiping Ceremony – Hue Festival

Right from the beginning of this special occasion, visitors are all likely to enjoy a really grand and gorgeous opening ceremony with excellent performances, delivered by several Vietnamese and international art groups.

During Hue Festival, there are always a wide range of great traditional activities, cultural events, and art performances taking place at every corner of the city, reflecting the cultural diversity of Hue City and the whole nation as well. More impressively, the festival is also a great cultural destination, gathering thousands of artists from so many countries all around the world such as France, UK, the US, Brazil, … that make it much more interesting.

Colorful performance in Hue Festival

Additionally, as participating in the festival, visitors also have the chance to explore Vietnam’s unique traditional values through many great activities like Art Exhibitions, Ao Dai Grand Show, Hue Poetry Festival, the Week of historical films, etc. Especially, Nguyen Dynasty’s ancient sceneries are also perfectly imitated, providing a detailed insight about feudal are of Vietnam. Also, we can’t fail to mention to variety typical events such as Nam Giao, Xa Tac Offering Ritual, Hue’s Royal Refined Music, … which attract to many tourists from all over the world.

Categories: Hue Vietnam-Festival

Read More

Tombs of Nguyen Kings in Hue

It’s said that Hue is an attractive tourist center with many royal palaces and tombs, especially, tombs of Nguyen Kings. With the unique artistic and cultural features, they attract the attention of not only tourists but also architects and artists.

The ancient beauty of Hue City
General information

The Nguyen dynasty (1820 – 1945), which lasted a total of 143 years, was the last ruling family of Vietnam. There are thirteen Emperors of the Nguyen Dynasty. However, due to many complicated historic reasons, only seven royal tombs of King Nguyen remain in Hue City, namely tombs of Gia Long, Minh Mang, Thieu Tri (including the tomb of Kien Phuc King), Tu Duc, Duc Duc (including two tombs of Thanh Thai and Duy Tan), Dong Khanh, and Khai Dinh.

Construction of the tombs was started while the king was still alive. Each tomb consists of two main parts. The first one is reserved for funeral activities and the second one is a place where many palaces, mansions, pavilions and others were built for the King’s entertainment during his visit.

However, the internal arrangement of each tomb is different from the others, particularly, the arrangements reflected the points of view, personality, and tastes of each King.
Tomb of Gia Long The tomb of Gia Long

The tomb of Gia Long is located on the top of Thien Tho mountain, on the west bank of the Huong river. It is 16km from the center of Hue. Construction of the tomb began in 1814 and was completed in 1820. The tomb was built according to a monumental but simple design, along with many old pine trees around.

In front of the tomb is a lotus pond. Behind the pond is a large terraced yard divided into three different levels. In the past, the first level was used as the waiting area and is bordered by two rows of elephant and horse statues.
Tomb of Minh Mang The architectural design harmoniously blends with its natural surroundings.

The tomb of Minh Mang was constructed from 1840 to 1843. It is located in an enclosed hilly area in Cam Khe village, 12 kilometers from the Hue center.

Minh Mang tomb is a standard architectural complex consisting of 40 palaces, temple, pavilions, etc. They are designed on a symmetrical axis along the outside of Dai Hong gate to the foot of La Thanh behind the Emperor’s tomb.

Visit Minh Mang tomb, tourists seem to be wandering in a world of paintings, poetry and philosophy, besides the majesty and symmetry of the architectural constructions. The tomb of Minh Mang has the atmosphere of magnificence and formality. Its architectural design harmoniously blends with its natural surroundings.
Tomb of Thieu Tri The imperial of Thien Tri Tomb

Thieu Tri’s tomb was situated in Chu Chanh village, Thuy Bang commune, Huong Thuy district. It is about 8 kilometers from the city. The tomb was built in 1849, including the tomb and temple areas.

The tomb area is on the right of Nhuan Trach lake. It has the bronze gate leading to big Binh Dai. The two rows of stone statues on the left and right of the court are typical for the Hue sculpture in the first half of the 19th century. In addition, Ngong Thuy lake in front of Buu Thanh looks like a crescent moon.

After passing the marble gate, there is Bieu Duc temple. In the temple, there are over 450-word boxes including many poems with education and literature values.

The tomb of Thien Tri has itself the simple and intimate beauty, which leans its back against the foot of Thuan Dao mount. In front of the tomb is the flat land with green trees and rice fields stretching from the back of Huong river up to Lim bridge.
Tomb of Tu Duc Tu Duc tomb is one of the most beautiful royal architecture works of the Nguyen dynasty

The tomb of Tu Duc is situated on Duong Xuan mountain, on the bank of Huong river. It is 8km from Hue.

The construction started in 1864 and completed in 1883. Also called Tomb of Modesty, the necropolis complex is among a pine tree forest. Tu Duc tomb is not only one of the most beautiful royal architecture works of the Nguyen dynasty but also is a romantic picture of mountains and lakes.
Tomb of Duc Duc The tomb of Duc Duc
Among the tombs of Nguyen dynasty, Duc Duc tomb is simpler than the others. Inside, there are no temples or stone statues. The entrance is a triple gate made of brick.

The tomb has an honor courtyard without stone statues; however, it is decorated with parapets. The middle is Huynh Oc house with yellow tiles. The interior decoration is very simple with one bed and one table used to place altars. In addition, there have two words Song Hy in front of the tomb.

Later, Long An shrine was built in the central area. Inside the temple are three altars, which are dedicated to Duc Duc, Thanh Thai and Duy Tan.
Tomb of Dong Khanh The ancient beauty of Dong Khanh Tomb

Dong Khanh tomb is located near Thuong Hai village, Thuy Xuan commune, Hue. It’s only 5 km from the city center. It was built in 1917 when European culture entered Vietnam. The tomb’s design was almost influenced by European style, from its architectural peculiarities or decorative models to the building materials. The Stele Pavilion was constructed with cement, tile bricks and bricks instead of stones.

The tomb marked the evolution of Vietnam’s architecture, which is the mixture of European and Asian architecture.
Tomb of Khai Dinh Khai Dinh Tomb was built with modern materials

Khai Dinh tomb was built between 1920 and 1931. It is located on the top of Chau E mountains, 10km of Hue. Located in a wilderness, Khai Dinh tomb looks like a magnificent palace perched on the slope of a limestone mountain. The tourists have to climb 109 stone steps to reach the tomb.

Unlike the other tombs, Khai Dinh mausoleum was built with modern materials such as steel and reinforced concrete. Especially, there are the magnificent porcelain decorations on the walls, columns, and ceilings.

Each royal tomb in Hue is famous for not only a historical and cultural relic but also landscapes and architecture of Hue Ancient City.

Categories: Hue Vietnam-Destination

Read More