A Brief Introduction of The Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long

Situated at the heart of Hanoi, the Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long is an outstanding place of interest not only for the capital city but also for the country as a whole. The site is one of the ten special national heritage sites proclaimed by the Prime Minister in 2009 and was inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee in 2010. Its Outstanding Universal Values are reflected in its historical longevity, its continuous role as a seat of power, and its multiple cultural layers.

The World Heritage Site comprises two sections: the archaeological site at 18 Hoang Dieu Street and the central axis of the Nguyen Dynasty’s Citadel of Hanoi, which together create an integrated heritage complex. This was the most important sector of Thang Long Citadel, the capital of Dai Viet under the Ly, Tran, and Le dynasties from the 11th to the 18th centuries. It was also the core of the earlier Dai La Citadel, dating from the period when the region was ruled directly by China (7th to 9th centuries) and the headquarters of the North Vietnamese government and army during the Resistance War against the Americans (also known as the Vietnam War) between 1954 and 1975.

A brief introduction

Historical Vestiges of President Ho Chi Minh, which is located at Ngoc Ha, Ba Dinh, Hanoi, is the place where Ho Chi Minh lived and worked in most of his revolutionary life (from December 19, 1954, to September 2, 1969). This site was listed by the Ministry of Culture and Information of Vietnam in 1975.

The nicely landscaped complex includes two of Ho Chi Minh's houses, kept shiny and "as he left them" by the authorities, as well as a garage with two of Ho's "used cars" and a carp-filled pond. The Presidential Palace is also nearby, but it's not always open to visitors. Pamphlets are available in English, Chinese, French, and Korean.

A brief introduction of The Ho Chi Minh Museum

The President Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is a mausoleum which serves as the resting place of Vietnamese Revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh in Hanoi, Vietnam. It is a large building located in the center of Ba Dinh Square, where Ho, Chairman of the Workers' Party of Vietnam from 1951 until his death in 1969, read the Declaration of Independence on 2 September 1945, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. It is also known as Ba Đình Mausoleum and is open to the public.

The mausoleum was formally inaugurated on August 29, 1975. It was inspired by Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow but incorporates distinct Vietnamese architectural elements, such as the sloping roof. The exterior is made of grey granite, while the interior is grey, black and red polished stone. The mausoleum's portico has the words "Chủ tịch Hồ Chí Minh" (President Ho Chi Minh) inscribed across it. The banner beside says "Nước Cộng Hòa Xã Hội Chủ Nghĩa Việt Nam Muôn Năm" (en: "Long live The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam").

The structure is 21.6 meters (70.9 feet) high and 41.2 meters (135.2 feet) wide. Flanking the mausoleum are two platforms with seven steps for parade viewing. The plaza in front of the mausoleum is divided into 240 green squares separated by pathways. The gardens surrounding the mausoleum have nearly 250 different species of plants and flowers, all from different regions of Vietnam.

The embalmed body of President Ho Chi Minh is preserved in the cooler, central hall of the mausoleum, which is protected by a military honour guard. The body lies in a glass case with dim lights. The mausoleum is generally open to the public every day.

A brief introduction of The Temple of Literature

The Temple of Literature is a Temple of Confucius in Hanoi, northern Vietnam. The temple hosts the Imperial Academy, Vietnam's first national university. The temple was built in 1070 at the time of Emperor Lý Thánh Tông. It is one of several temples in Vietnam which is dedicated to Confucius, sages and scholars. The Temple of Literature is about 10 minutes away from Hoan Kiem lake. It was constructed in 1070 under Ly Thanh Tong’s dynasty, first to honor Confucius and nowadays to celebrate the doctorates and high rank scholars of Vietnam. In 1076, King Ly Nhan Tong continued the work and built Quoc Tu Giam as the first university of Vietnam.

A brief introduction of Hoan Kiem Lake - Ngoc Son Temple

Hoan Kiem Lake, also known as Hồ Gươm (Sword Lake), is a fresh water lake, measuring some 12 ha in the historical center of Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam. The lake is one of the major scenic spots in the city and serves as a focal point for its public life.

Near the northern shore of the lake lies Jade Island on which the Temple of the Jade Mountain (Ngoc Son Temple) stands. The temple was erected in the 18th century. It honors the 13th-century military leader Tran Hung Dao who distinguished himself in the fight against the Yuan Dynasty, Van Xuong, a scholar, and Nguyen Van Sieu, a Confucian master and famous writer in charge of repairs made to the temple in 1864. Jade Island is connected to the shore by the wooden red-painted The Huc Bridge/Cầu Thê Húc (The Huc, meaning Morning Sunlight Bridge).

A brief introduction of Hanoi Old Quarter

The Old Quarter is located outside the Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long. This quarter used to be a residential, manufacturing, and commercial center, where each street was specialized in one specific type of manufacturing or commerce. Nowadays, the quarter is an attraction for people interested in the history of Hanoi. The Old Quarter contains many historic sights, such as temples, pagodas, and assembly halls.

Most craft streets used to have a temple dedicated to worshiping mythical founders of the craft. Particular is that the ground floor of such communal temples in the Hanoi Old Quarter was often still used for commerce. With the passage of time, most such communal temples have been destroyed. Several temples have survived, such as the Mã Mây and Kim Cổ temples.

Several city gates were located in what is now the Old Quarter. Only the Quan Chưởng gate is still left

Characteristic of the Old Quarter is the ancient architecture of the commercial area. Most of the historic houses there are shophouses with slanted tile roofs, of which the side facing the street used to be used as entrance to the shop inside. Houses of this type were mostly built in the 18th and 19th centuries — before that most houses had thatched roofs.

Since the end of the 20th century, the number of traditional houses have been dwindling in number.

A brief introduction of Hoa Lo Prison Historical Relic

Hoa Lo Prison, was built by the French at the turn of the 20th century, in classical French prison design. This is where the French imprisoned and executed many of the Vietnamese revolutionaries. Now a museum (2/3 of the prison was torn down to make way for the Hanoi Towers), the museum exhibits the brutal French colonial regime and the struggle of the Vietnamese people against imperialism in chilling details. The prison was also known as the "Hanoi Hilton" during the Vietnam War as it held American POW's shot down. Little emphasis is given to this period however, and the exhibits shown can be frustratingly skewed in propaganda, choosing to show solely regime sanctioned photos of prisoners being treated well and playing basketball, playing chess, and other staged events. They also claim to have John McCain's flight suit from when his plane was shot down.

During the Vietnam War, the first U.S. prisoner to be sent to Hỏa Lò was Lieutenant Junior Grade Everett Alvarez Jr., who was shot down on August 5, 1964. From the beginning, U.S. POWs endured miserable conditions, including poor food and unsanitary conditions. The prison complex was sarcastically nicknamed the "Hanoi Hilton" by the American POWs, in reference to the well-known Hilton Hotel chain. There is some disagreement among the first group of POWs who coined the name but F8D pilot Bob Shumaker was the first to write it down, carving "Welcome to the Hanoi Hilton" on the handle of a pail to greet the arrival of Air Force Lieutenant Robert Peel.

Regarding treatment at Hỏa Lò and other prisons, the North Vietnamese countered by stating that prisoners were treated well and in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. During 1969, they broadcast a series of coerced statements from American prisoners that purported to support this notion. The North Vietnamese would also maintain that their prisons were no worse than prisons for POWs and political prisoners in South Vietnam, such as the one on Côn Sơn Island. Mistreatment of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese prisoners and South Vietnamese dissidents in South Vietnam's prisons was indeed frequent, as was North Vietnamese abuse of South Vietnamese prisoners and their own dissidents.

Beginning in late 1969, treatment of the prisoners at Hỏa Lò and other camps became less severe and generally more tolerable. Following the late 1970 attempted rescue operation at Sơn Tây prison camp, most of the POWs at the outlying camps were moved to Hỏa Lò, so that the North Vietnamese had fewer camps to protect. This created the "Camp Unity" communal living area at Hỏa Lò, which greatly reduced the isolation of the POWs and improved their morale.

A brief introduction of One Pillar Pagoda

One Pillar Pagoda was built in 1049 in Dien Huu pagoda relics located by One Pillar Pagoda Street, near to Ho Chi Minh President Mausoleum, Ba Dinh District.

Legend has it that King Ly Thai Tong (1028 – 1054) was old but he had no son. One night, the King dreamed about Guan Yin Buddha sitting on a lotus, carying a boy and giving it to the king. Shortly after, the queen gave birth to a son. The king built a lotus-shaped pagoda and named it Dien Huu Pagoda.

The old pagoda was much larger than it is now; through the dynasties, One Pillar Pagoda was rebuilt several times; each restoration, the pagoda and the surrounding landscape was changed.

A brief introduction of No 48, Hang Ngang Street

Nestled in the Hanoi Old Quarter, the house at 48 Hang Ngang Street is a special historical site. It was here that in 1945, President Ho Chi Minh drafted the Declaration of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, now the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The relic site is now open to tourists.

Seventy-three years ago, 48 Hang Ngang Street was a successful silk shop that belonged to Trinh Van Bo and Hoang Thi Minh Ho, an affluent couple. At the time, few people knew that this was the confidential venue of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam where President Ho Chi Minh was working on his return to Hanoi.

After the 1945 August Revolution, Trinh Van Bo donated this house to the State, which turned it into a mini museum. The ground floor has been converted into an exhibition hall honoring President Ho Chi Minh and other revolutionaries. The office on the first floor has been kept intact. There is a large rectangular table in the middle, eight chairs and a large armchair. A typewriter sits on a small table

In 1979, the house No 48 Hang Ngang street was recognized as a National Historical Relic.

A brief introduction of The Quan Thanh Temple

Quan Thanh Temple (Đền Quán Thánh), formerly known as Trấn Vũ Temple is a Taoist temple in Hanoi, Vietnam. Dated to the 11th century, the temple was dedicated to Xuan Wu, or Trấn Vũ in Vietnamese, one of the principal deities in Taoism. As one of the Four Sacred Temples of the capital, Quan Thánh Temple is located near West Lake in a ward of the same name: Quán Thánh Ward; and is one of the leading tourist attractions in Hanoi.The temple's name means Place (alternatively shop/restaurant) of the Gods. The name of the long street running by the temple is also called 'Quán Thánh' street.

Legend has it that Quán Thánh Temple was established during the reign of Emperor Lý Thái Tổ (reigned 1010–1028) and was dedicated to Trấn Vũ, Deity of the North in Taoism, whose symbols of power are the serpent and turtle (see section on Animal Symbolism below). It is one of the Four Sacred Temples that were built in four directions to protect the capital from malevolent spirits. Quán Thánh protects from the North, while the other three temples protect from the other directions: Bạch Mã from the East, Kim Liêm from the South, and Thần Linh Lang from the West. In Hanoi, there is also a second Trấn Vũ Temple in the Gia Lâm District. Though smaller than Quán Thánh Temple, this smaller temple is also dedicated to Trấn Vũ with a 9-tonne statue of the deity.

Nowadays, after many geographical changes to the city layout, Quán Thánh Temple is located on the corner of Quán Thánh Street and Thanh Nien Street, facing West Lake. It is a short walk from Trúc Bạch Lake where pilot (and future United States senator) John McCain was shot down in October 1967

A Brief Introduction of The Vietnam National Village Forethnic Culture And Tourism

Construction area with high mountain, valley, water surface, copious terrain, shows distribution of ethnic villages spreading over all the country. Ethnic villages were built into the population to reappear their village structure and hamlets of the Vietnamese ethnic groups with folk planning and architecture in order to preserve, develop and introduce traditional cultural values of 54 Vietnamese ethnic groups community.

With the area of 125,22 ha, located in the central, beautiful terrain, spreading over the range of hills intermixed with Dong Mo lake water surface, connected to the main gate and functional area, this is the center for cultural activities, sports, multi-functional entertainment and but with bold ethnic culture. The expected items include the park (royal park garden, bird garden, butterfly garden, aquarium, etc.); folk cuisine; modern cuisine; sports center; center for resort and health; center for business and services; exciting games area; public stage area, theater, galleries, cinema, etc.

A Brief Introduction of The Perfume Pagoda

The Huong Pagoda is a vast complex of Buddhist temples and shrines built into the limestone Huong Tich mountains. It is the site of a religious festival which draws large numbers of pilgrims from across Vietnam. The centre of the Huong Temple lies in Huong Son Commune, Mỹ Đức District, former Hà Tây Province (now Hanoi). The centre of this complex is the Perfume Temple, also known as Chua Trong (Inner Temple), located in Huong Tich Cave.

It is thought that the first temple was a small structure on the current site of Thien Tru which existed during the reign of Lê Thánh Tông in the 15th century. Legend claims that the site was discovered over 2000 years ago by a monk meditating in the area, who named the site after a Tibetan mountain where Lord Buddha practiced asceticism. A stele at the current temple dates the building of a terrace, stone steps and Kim Dung shrine to 1686, during the reign of Le Hy Tong, at around the same time that Chua Trong was being constructed. Over the years some of the structures were damaged and replaced. The original statues of Lord Buddha and Quan Am were cast from bronze in 1767 and replaced with the current statues in 1793. More recently, damage was done during both the French and the American wars. Both the gate and the bell tower at Thien Tru Pagoda were destroyed, the bell tower rebuilt in 1986 and the gate completed in 1994

The many Pagodas that make up Chua Huong are spread out among the limestone hills and tropical forests in the area of Huong Mountain

A Brief Introduction of The Co Loa citadel

Cổ Loa Citadel is an important fortified settlement and archaeological site in present-day Hanoi's Dong Anh district, about 16 kilometers (10 mi) northeast of Hanoi city center. Various relics of the Bronze Age Phung Nguyen culture and Dong Son culture have been found in Cổ Loa, although it was later established as the capital of Âu Lạc Kingdom during the 3rd century BC. Further construction was added during the later dynasties. Cổ Loa remained an important political center of the Vietnamese people until the 10th century. The name "Cổ Loa" is derived from the Sino-Vietnamese 古螺, meaning "old spiral", reflecting its multi-layered structure of earthworks, moats and ditches.

A Brief Introduction of The Duong Lam ancient village

Duong Lam (Đường Lâm) ancient village is located in Sơn Tây Town, 40 km to the west of Hanoi, is the first-recognized ancient village in Vietnam. The ancient village has a history of about 1,200 years with many houses dating back up to 400 years.

Two of Vietnam’s kings, Phung Hung (761-802) and Ngo Quyen (896-944) were born in Duong Lam, giving the village its prestige. Both men led resistance wars against northern invasion and after winning national independence, were crowned kings. After their deaths, the local people built temples in their honor.

Today, Duong lam village still retains most of the basic characteristics of a village of Vietnam with port village, trees, courtyard, temples, well, water fields… The roads of Duong lam were special because they have the shape as the bones of fish. Some features are still kept in Duong Lam ancient village is the old village gate in Mong Phu village.

A Brief Introduction of The Dong Ngac Ancient Village

Dong Ngac ancient village is located about 10km from downtown Hanoi, Dong Ngac Village in North Tu Liem District is famous for its communal house, manyold houses and ancestral worshipping houses hundreds of years old.For centuries, its ancient architectural features have been well-preserved. Each hamlet in Dong Ngac has a front gate directed towards the Red River and a rear gate looking towards the rice fields. The inner lanes still retain old names.

Like many other villages in Vietnam, Dong Ngac is moving forward with the pace of development but it has still preserved its architectural works, ancient houses 100 years old in the architectural style of the northern delta in Vietnam or the French style, Tu Khanh Pagoda built in the 18th -19th century and dozens of ancestral worshipping houses of the Do, Pham, Phan, Nguyen and Hoang families. Among them, the ancestral house of Do Family that honors Do The Giai, a senior official under the Le-Trinh Dynasty (the 17th-18thcentury), has many valuable objects, such as bronze gongs, parallel sentences in Chinese characters, altars, two 2m-high cranes standing on tortoises and two steles.Time has touched the ancestral house, but its cultural value remains, thereby it has been selected as the place for shooting scenes of daily life of people in the past by many film directors.

A Brief Introduction of The Son Tay Ancient Citadel

Son Tay Ancient Citadel, about 40 kilometers from the center of Hanoi, is a unique historical relic of the capital city and Vietnam’s glorious history of resisting foreign invaders.

Son Tay Ancient Citadel was built by King Minh Mang in 1822 to defend the western approach to the city of Thang Long, which is now Hanoi. The architecture of the relic site is undamaged, with massive citadel walls and two gates in the West and South”.

Son Tay Ancient Citadel covers an area of 16 hectares near the two villages of Thuan Nghe and May Trai. The relic site has walls made of laterite and four gates made of bricks. On each side of the citadel is a gate which was guarded by cannons and reached via a stone bridge. In the past there were four brick bridges across the moat, but only two bridges exist today. Mr. Son says the Son Tay citadel was recognized as a National Architectural Historical Relic in 1994. He said: “The Son Tay citadel was built in the French style out of laterite, a material plentiful in the area. It is a military structure with firing loopholes to protect the gates”.

A brief Introduction of The K9 Relic

The K9 relic site is a venue where President Ho Chi Minh, the Politburo, and the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee decided the country’s crucial issues during the national resistance war against American invaders. It was also chosen to preserve the body of the late President from 1969 to 1975. The historical relic site is located on Ba Vi Mountain, about 70 kilometres from downtown Hanoi to the west.