HUE - The Ancient Capital

Hue teems with architectural masterpieces including citadels, royal palaces, mausoleums and pagodas of the Nguyen Dynasties (17-19th century) on the banks of the perfume river. Hue is located on a narrow delta on the central coast and is bordered by mountains to the west and by sea to the east. Hue records the highest rainfall in all of Vietnam. The wet season starts in August and doesn’t finish until January, though the best time to visit Hue is between November and April.

A BRIEF HISTORY:
Hue was part of the Champa Kingdom until 1306, when territory north of Da Nang was exchanged for the hand of a Vietnamese Princess, under the terms of a peace treaty. In 1802, Emperor Gia Long of the Nguyen Dynasty moved the capital from Vietnam when Emperor Bao Dai abdicated in 1945; two years later a huge fire swept through the city & destroyed many of its wooden temples & palaces.
From the early 20th century, the city was embroiled in social & political unrest led by the anti-colonialists. In 1963, troops fired on 1000’s of Buddhists peacefully demonstrating against the persecution of the Buddhist majority by the southern Catholic regime of President Ngo Dinh Diem. Protests escalated into a series of self-immolations by monks & nuns, and the army moved against them & arrested the majority of the Buddhist clergy. The 1968 Tet Offensive ripped the city apart again when the revolutionaries captured & held the city for 25 days. They were armed with lists of names, and searched out government personnel & sympathizers of the southern regime. Later, nearly 3000 bodies were found in mass graves around the city.
The city received a boost when UNESCO listed Hue as a world heritage site in 1993.

SIGHTS:

The Citadel – Built in the 19th century during Emperor Gia Long’s reign, this is a small, self-contained city of about 5.2 sq km built in accordance with ancient tradition whereby an auspicious location was chosen to preserve the all-important harmony between the emperor and his subjects, heaven and earth, man and nature. The whole area is enclosed within 7 metres high, 20 metre thick brick and earth walls built with the help of French engineers, and encircled by a moat and canal. Within the outer wall lies the Imperial City and inside, the Forbidden City, the former living quarters of the imperial family. The citadel’s massive, 10 km long perimeter wall has survived intact, and has its most prominent feature, the flag tower which dominates the southern battlements. The tower is three brick terraces topped with a flagpole first erected in 1807, where the yellow starred Viet Cong flag flew briefly during the 1968 Tet Offensive. 10 gates pierce the citadel wall and if entering through the Ngan gate, there are the 9 sacred cannons, which were cast in the early 19th century of bronze. The cannons represent the four seasons and five ritual elements (earth, fire, metal, wood and water); originally they stood in front of Ngo Mon gate, symbolising the citadel’s guardian spirits.

The Imperial City – Three walled enclosures make up Hue’s Imperial City: Hoang Thanh (yellow Enclosure) and Tu Cam Thanh (Forbidden Purple City) are enclosed within the all encompassing Kinh Thanh (the exterior enclosure). Hoang Thanh (Yellow Enclosure) is the middle wall enclosing the imperial city and its palaces, temples and flower gardens. Most of what visitors see tody is found within the Hoang Thanh or Yellow Enclosure; other areas were destroyed during the Tet Offensive of 1968.

The Forbidden Purple City – The ten-hectare city, enclosed by a low wall, was reserved for residential palaces, living quarters of the state physician and nine ranks of royal concubines, plus kitchens and pleasure pavilions. Many of thee buildings were destroyed in the 1947 fire, leaving most of the Forbidden Purple City as open ground, a “mood piece”, haunted by fragments of wall and overgrown terraces.

Imperial Tombs – more than simple graves, Hue royal tombs are great artworks of architecture with decorations inspired by the Oriental spirit and were constructed on the banks of the perfume river several miles upstream from the citadel. Each tomb reflected in its architecture the monarch’s politics and personality. Tu Duc (1848-83) whose tomb is the most aesthetically unusual was renowned for his poetic and artistic temperament. The tomb of Khai Dinh (1916-25) contains numerous motifs drawn from western influences, at a time when the king was a mere figurehead in the French colony. With its stone mandarins, horses and life-size elephants, this is the most famous of al the tombs. Duc Duc’s tomb is the closest of all the royal tombs to the city of Hie. Gia Long’s tomb on the north bank of the perfume river has a majestic simplicity as it rests amongst a picturesque 2,875 ha of parkland and forest. Minh Mang’s (1820-41) tomb, 11km from Hue, was built in an elaborately Chinese style to reflect his fascination with Confucian administrative methods. The 3m high enclosures includes a grand court with stone staircases leading to a two-tiered terrace which in turn leads to the Square Pavilion and stone stele. The kings were not buried under the granite tablets erected to proclaim their titles and exploits. To prevent exhumation by usurping dynasties, the actual burial places were kept secret and remain unknown to this day.

Thien Mu Pagoda
Thien Mu Pagoda on the banks of the Perfume River is famous for its seven-story Phuoc Duyen tower. Emperor Thieu Tri built it in the 1840s, in which each of the seven tiers represents one of Buddha’s incarnations on arth. Two pavilions to each side respectively shelter a huge bell, cast in 1710, weighing over 200 kilos and said to be audible in the city, and a large stele erected in 1715 to record the history of Buddhism in Hue>

Hue Imperial Art Museum
Located at 3 Le Truc, (7.30-11am and 2-5pm; VND 30,000 approx) it has an interesting display of former royal paraphernalia and is housed in the stunning Long An Palace built in 1845 inside the Imperial city and moved to its present location in 1909 to become the National University Library before Khai Dinh turned it into a dynastic museum in 1923.

Revolutionary Museum
Opposite the Art Museum on le Truc Street. (Mon-Sat 7-10.30am and 1.30-4.30pm VND 22,000 approx.) Has a display of archaeological and ethnographic exhibits in the western building and to the east is the “Museum of the Resistance Against US invaders (1954-75) depicting Hue’s historical past.

Ho Chi Minh Museum
Although born near Vinh, uncle Ho spent 10 years at school in Hue (1895-1901 and 1906-1909) where his father worked as a civil mandarin. The small museum (7 Le Loi, Mon-Sat 8-11am and 2-5pm) presents these years in the context of the anti-French struggle and then takes the story on to Independence.

Thuan An Beach
Although not as spectacular as Danang’s China Beach, Thuan An, 14km from hue by road is nice enough and a pleasant cycle ride. En route you pass through Duong No village, 8km outside Hue where Uncle ho once lived with his father.

Demilitarised Zone (DMZ)
This refers to a zone five kilometres on either side of the Ben Hai River, which formed the line dividing North and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel following the Geneva agreement in 1954. It is an area that teems in contemporary history and historic sites which re predominantly clustered around the town of Dong Ha. A half-day tour along highway one is usually sufficient to cover the main sights.

Dong Ba Market
Located on Tran Hung Dao Street about 100m from Trang Tien Bridge, it is the biggest business centre in the region. All kinds of high quality goods and handicrafts made inside and outside the city can be found here, and it is best visited early in the morning.

PRACTICALITIES:

Bank: Vietcombank and ATM - Hoang Hoa Tham. Currency Exchange - Le Loi St., near No.18. Huong Giang Hotel or Century Hotel.

Restaurants: The most famous Hue dish is Banh Khoai, a small yellow crispy pancake made of egg and rice flour, fried up with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts and eaten with a special peanut and sesame sauce (nuoc leo) plus a vegetable accompaniment of star fruit, green banana, lettuce and mint. Banh Khoai Hanh (2 Nguyen Tri Phuong) opposite the Le Loi School cooks up some of the best Banh Khoai in town. Café No.3 (3 Le Loi) is a cheep and cheerful street side café. Huong Giang (51 Le Loi) is another favourite. Mandarin Café (12 Hung Vuong) is known on the backpacker trail, and has a selection of old photographs for sale. Song Huong Floating Restaurant is situated on the Perfume River between the Huong Giang Hotel and the old Clemenceau Bridge and serves good-value food with the best views in town. Paradise Garden is found on Nguyen Dinh Chieu (small street in front of the Morin Hotel). Lac Thien (6 Dinh Tien Hoang) offers Hue staples at reasonable price and is probably Hue’s friendliest and most interesting eatery. Tandoori House (10 Nguyen Tri Phuong) is a good-value Indian café serving decent vegetarian curries and Nan bread. For something more upmarket and memorable, try the Imperial banquet-Cost is about $10 for meal, music & royal fancy dress though it is advisable to book in advance, or the Perfume Riverboat with Hue traditional music & dinner – 80,000 VND. Per person. Again, must book in advance. For those who want to be daring and try something more traditional, head to Ly Lan’s snake wine bar (1 Nguyen Hue) where any aliment can be cured!

Nightlife and Entertainment: If you like your nightlife a little more upbeat head to the DMZ Bar (44 Le Loi) which is open late and is popular with travellers for beers, pool and dancing.

Shopping: The Dong Ba market is a huge covered market at the southeast corner of the citadel. Fruit, fish, vegetable vendors overflow into the surrounding spaces while in the downstairs hall you’ll find Hue’s contribution to the world of fashion, the poem conical hat. These look just like the normal conical hat but have a stencil, traditionally of a romantic poem, inserted between the palm fronds and only visible when held up to the light. The east end of Le Loi has become the main location for souvenir and craft shops.