"Returning to Phoenix Ancient Town after 3 years of closure due to the pandemic, this trip really left me with a lot of emotions. Even though I had visited the ancient town at least 20 times before, Dat still couldn't help but be amazed when standing before the quiet beauty of this place. The ancient, nostalgic features of Phoenix Ancient Town are preserved and conserved almost absolutely", Le Phat Dat (Travel Blogger Le Pa Da) couldn't help but exclaim when sharing about Phoenix Ancient Town after his recent trip.
Le Phat Dat has visited the ancient town of Phoenix more than 20 times but is still overwhelmed by the beauty of this "heaven on earth".
The ancient, quiet beauty of Phoenix Ancient Town
The 30-year-old man from An Giang is always impressed every time he "steps" into the picture of the mountainous region of Southern China. Covered by the vast green of the mountains, gentle in the deep blue water of the Da Giang River, the ancient town of Phoenix stands out even more in the dominant brown color with the typical ancient architecture of Diao Cuoc Lau.
The Da Giang River flowing through the territory of Phoenix town is not only beautiful because of its emerald green water reflecting the ancient architecture during the day, sparkling in thousands of lights at night. This river is closely associated with the daily life of the people. Traveling to Phoenix ancient town, it is not difficult for visitors to come across the picture of a gentle and simple life such as the image of a woman washing clothes on the riverbank or an old man fishing on the slowly flowing water.
The houses in Phoenix Ancient Town are the clearest manifestation of the traditional architectural fusion of ethnic minorities (Miao, Tujia...) and the Han people.
Along both sides of the Da Giang River, ancient houses of hundreds of years old lean precariously against the mountainside in the ancient and beautiful architecture of Dieu Cuoc Lau. At first glance, these houses look precarious as if they are about to fall, but they are all supported by large pillars so they are quite safe. After hundreds of years, the houses still calmly watch the flow of life in a space likened to a "fairyland".
Crossing the Da River, the Hongqiao Bridge is famous for its sturdiness over time, highlighted by its curved roof like the proud wings of a phoenix, similar to the typical roof architecture of the ancient town of Phoenix.
Not far away, the stone bridge - a unique bridge made up of cubes extending from one side of the river to the other - is a delight for many tourists. Standing on the bridge, right in the middle of the river, looking up at the moss-covered yin-yang tiled roofs on the precarious house protruding out into the blue river, it feels like being lost in a fairyland.
The stone jumping bridge is the most popular place for tourists when coming to the ancient town of Phoenix.
Weaving through the small stone-paved streets around the ancient town, visitors also have the opportunity to take a closer look at the ancient houses that are hundreds of thousands of years old. Each small alley and winding path in the ancient town has a distinctive ancient look with unique designs that lead you to many surprising discoveries about the architecture here. The scenery here becomes more peaceful and ancient when the fog is thick in the early morning or after the rain.
When the sun begins to rise, the first rays of sunlight penetrate the early morning mist, visitors can experience the scene of mist and sunlight blending into one in the middle of the Da River. "The daytime beauty of the ancient town of Phoenix is attractive because of the ancient tranquility emanating from two rows of houses running along the riverbank in the distant landscape of mountains and forests, in a quiet space," the young man described.
In the afternoon, when the sun sets behind the mountains, giving way to darkness, the ancient town of Phoenix "reveals its true form" as a colorful television. The town then becomes sparkling and brilliant with the "brand" colored lights strung across the houses and along the riverbank.
"At night, the town is no longer as 'ancient and quiet' as during the day, but turns into a 'rebellious' place that is as bustling as any big city. This is also a special point that many people do not know about the ancient town, because if we only look at the pictures, we will easily think that this place is always peaceful, even a bit boring," Phat Dat said.
Most of the large ancient architectural works of Phoenix that remain today were built during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), completed by the Han and Miao people.
Phoenix Ancient Town is not only attractive because of its beauty?
Phoenix Ancient Town not only attracts Travel Blogger Le Pa Da by its quiet, ancient beauty. Originally a tour guide, this young man is always fascinated by the cultural and historical knowledge of each destination. Phoenix Ancient Town makes Dat constantly curious because of the thrilling stories passed down among the people about this ancient town that is more than 1,300 years old.
Legend has it that the Hongqiao Bridge is one of Liu Bowen's famous feng shui stories. This great Ming Dynasty official was known as "the god of fortune telling", had the ability to predict the future, and was a famous feng shui expert.
It is said that, in order to let the country he built be passed down to his descendants for thousands of generations, after ascending the throne, Zhu Yuanzhang sent Liu Bowen to travel all over the country to examine feng shui, looking for ways to prevent the appearance of "great-fate" people who could usurp the world from the Zhu family.
Arriving at the ancient town of Phoenix, Liu Bowen stood on the mountain and looked down and realized that the land here was like a dragon drinking water, meaning that this place would produce talented people who could usurp the throne. Therefore, he ordered the construction of the Hongqiao Bridge, with two swords on both sides of the town to cut off the dragon vein, ensuring the stable position of the Ming Dynasty.
Another bridge that is equally famous as Hong Kieu is Tuyet Kieu.
Later, people discovered a quantity of cinnabar (cinnabar, single sand) placed on the Hongqiao Bridge. The government decided to confiscate this cinnabar. However, not long after, a great flood came, and the entire town of Phoenix was submerged in water.
When inviting feng shui masters, they concluded that the cause came from removing cinnabar from the Hongqiao Bridge - the place that guards the dragon vein. It is known that the effects of cinnabar - "divine sand" in Chinese feng shui since ancient times are: to protect the house, ward off evil spirits, and increase the positive energy of the land.
Under pressure from the people, the government was forced to put the cinnabar back in its original position. Later, great floods occurred in many places in China, but absolutely not in the ancient town of Phoenix.
Although these legends are only folk tales, the illusory history still makes Hong Kieu Bridge in particular and Phoenix Ancient Town in general more and more famous and attracts many tourists.
