Hue Travel Guide

Thua Thien - Hue is a province located in the northern part of Central Vietnam. It is encompassed between Quang Tri Province to the north, Da Nang and Quang Nam provinces, to the south (with the boundary of the Hai Van Pass), the Eastern sea to the east and Lao PDR to the west (with the boundary of the Truong Son Mountain Range). The provincial capital, Hue, the old imperial city of Vietnam under the Nguyen Dynasty, is 660km south of Hanoi and 1,080km north of Ho Chi Minh City.

From 179 BC to the end of the 2nd century AD, Hue was in the territory of Nhat Nam District, under the domination of the northern feudal regime. Then, for about 12 centuries, it was the northernmost territory of the Kingdom of Champa.

From 1306, after the wedding of the princess Huyen Tran of the Tran Dynasty with Che Man, the Cham King, the territories of Chau O and Chau Ly (comprised of Quang Tri, Thua Thien - Hue and part of Northern Quang Nam) took the name of Thuan Hoa. In the 2nd half of the 15th century, under the reign of King Le Thanh Tong, the name of "Hue" appeared for the first time. In 1636, the residence of the Nguyen Lords was settled at Kim Long (Hue). In 1687, it was transferred to Phu Xuan where is the Citadel today. Early in the 18th century, Phu Xuan became the political, economic and cultural centre of the southern part of Vietnam. Then, from 1788 to 1801, it became the capital of the Tay Son Dynasty.

From 1802 to 1945, Hue was the capital of unified Vietnam under the reign of the Nguyen Kings. During these years, architectural works of a high cultural and historic value were built: the Citadel and the Imperial City (100 constructions), the imperial tombs of 13 kings of the Nguyen Dynasty, the Esplanade of Nam Giao, the Ho Quyen arena and the Hon Chen Temple. Thua Thien - Hue is also a province with an important heroic revolutionary tradition. Today, numerous reminders of the two wars for independence can still be found.

Covering an area of 5,009 sq km on a narrow land strip of 127km long and 60km wide, Thua Thien - Hue Province presents almost all types of topography. From west to east, we find mountains, hills, coastal plains, marshes lagoons, and the sea. The mountains account for about one fourth of the province and are located at the Laos border, and at the boundary line with Danang. The high mountains near the Laos border are about 60km long and stretch in the north-western - south-eastern direction. Most of their summits are 800 to 1000m high, with some being higher than 1000m such as Dong Ngai Peak(1,774m), Kovalatdot (1,360m),RuyGrotto (1,200m), Atine (1,298m), Mang (1,712m), Bach Ma (1,444m), and Hai Van (1, 160m).

The hills are distributed mainly in the midlands and account for half of the natural area, with heights of less than 500m. The plains cover 1,400 sq km, 18km at the widest point (from Phong Son to Quang Ngan), 750m at the narrowest point (Phu Gia Pass). The coastline of the province is 120km long, with attractive and beautiful beaches and sand dunes.

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