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Hue on gloomy days always evokes a sense of nostalgia. Stepping into the ancient town of Bao Vinh intensifies this feeling. Along the Perfume River, this neighborhood, which has existed for over three centuries, appears as a tranquil slice of a once bustling trading port in the Southern region of Vietnam.
For Hoang Lap, a native of Hue, stepping into Bao Vinh is like stepping back into an old chapter of history, where every house, every weathered wall, tells a story of time.
The old-world charm of a century-old trading port.
Bao Vinh was once the most vibrant trading gateway in Dang Trong (Southern Vietnam), part of the thriving Thanh Ha port network in the 17th-19th centuries. Located at a bend in the Perfume River, it was a bustling commercial center where merchants from China, Japan, India, and Europe traded goods such as ivory, bird's nests, silk, and porcelain.
Located on the Perfume River, Bao Vinh was once a bustling trading port within the waterway trade network.
The influence of the Minh Huong Chinese community, with their Fujian, Teochew, and Hainanese guildhalls that once existed in the area, created a "miniature Chinatown" in Hue, a place where many layers of culture and occupation intersected.
But then, due to changing times and natural disasters, Bao Vinh gradually became quiet. Many structures deteriorated, leaving only about twenty old houses and a few hexagonal houses that need preservation, becoming important testaments to a prosperous era.
Even today, though its heyday has passed, that small old town still retains the tranquil charm of a trading port that has lain dormant in the layers of time.
The quiet neighborhood of today
On the drizzly afternoon of November 22nd, when Lap arrived, the sky was overcast and just cold enough to slow down all movement. A few raindrops falling on the yin-yang tiled roofs cast a tranquil atmosphere over the street, enough for travelers to feel the serenity of Hue at the end of the year.
Bao Vinh is beautiful in a way that doesn't try to be different. For hundreds of years, the neighborhood has maintained a blend of Vietnamese and French architecture. Right next to the river are classic yellow houses bearing the mark of early-century French construction, sturdy and full of decorative details. Just a few steps away, there are houses with wooden pillars, lime walls, and layered tiled roofs – preserving the spirit of ancient Hue and the traditional culture of the Vietnamese people.
The mix of Vietnamese and French houses adds to the neighborhood's ancient charm and rich cultural depth.
The Bao Vinh village communal house (a provincial-level historical site since 2021) and the over 200-year-old Thien Giang Tu pagoda both appear very naturally amidst everyday life. Without ostentation or isolation, they quietly stand there as an integral part of the village's ancient cultural heritage, a tradition that has never been interrupted.
Bao Vinh was once famous for its blacksmithing – a traditional craft passed down through many generations in families. Although the number of households practicing the craft is no longer large, Bao Vinh blacksmithing is still recognized by Thua Thien Hue province as a traditional craft, becoming an important part of the neighborhood's identity.
In Lap's eyes, Bao Vinh possesses a beauty of time flowing slowly – where the weathered walls, worn wooden doors, low verandas, and dark tiled roofs are not just architecture, but memories. He says that simply looking at the faded yellow, wood brown, brick red, and silvery gray hues tells you you're standing in Bao Vinh and nowhere else.
A slow pace of life breathes the essence of "life."
“In Bao Vinh, I feel very comfortable, and I just want to linger a little longer,” Lap said. Perhaps it is this slow pace of life that gives him the opportunity to observe more closely the changes creeping into the neighborhood. Amidst the traditional wooden houses with their faded walls, the bright yellow French-style houses seem to add a new layer of time. The wooden doors, worn down by the years, open onto small courtyards where people sit and chat on the porches, under the overlapping tiled roofs.
Amidst the ancient old town, the appearance of a few new buildings brings a breath of modernity to the area.
Although Bao Vinh shares many similarities with Hoi An or Hanoi's Old Quarter in its old-world charm and nostalgic atmosphere, it remains distinctly different. Hoi An is vibrant and bustling with tourists, Hanoi is rich in layers of urban culture, while Bao Vinh is slower-paced, smaller, and almost untouched by commercialization.
Life here remains as simple as it used to be: people sell goods on their verandas, stroll around the market, and chat by the waterfront. According to Lap, it is this very "lifestyle" that creates the allure of Bao Vinh – an ancient town preserved not for show, but to live true to its original rhythm.
Life in Bao Vinh has traditionally been slow-paced and not yet heavily impacted by commercialized tourism.
Bao Vinh Market - where time intersects
The place that Lap remembers most from the photoshoot on November 22nd is Bao Vinh Market. The small stalls nestled against the ancient walls, the familiar, warm glances exchanged between sellers and buyers, the lively calls to each other… all blended with the old architecture of the traditional houses, creating a very authentic rhythm of life.
I stood for quite a while at the market entrance, simply observing the daily life unfolding through the layers of time. The market scene clearly showed the interplay between past and present, as if time here didn't rush but gently rippled with the rhythm of the river's water.
Bao Vinh Market is one of the few remaining bustling places in Bao Vinh, retaining the charm of a once thriving trading port.
As evening falls and the gray sky blankets the neighborhood, Bao Vinh becomes even more serene. Small windows reflect the familiar contemplative atmosphere of Hue at the end of the year. It feels as if one is standing between two time periods: a pristine Bao Vinh of the past and a Bao Vinh silently changing day by day.
Bao Vinh today may not be as intact as it was three centuries ago, but its historical and cultural value is still evident in every detail. Although time has faded the colors of many houses and seasonal floods have caused the old town to deteriorate, its beauty remains enduring.
