Hoang A Tuong family reputation
Since ancient times, the border chiefs were still considered as the lords of a region. In Lai Chau, there was King Thai Deo Van Long, in Ha Giang, there was Vuong Chi Sinh, and in Bac Ha, there was Hoang A Tuong and his son.
The lavish life and wealth of the Hoang father and son are still told as legends by the elderly in Bac Ha. Before the Revolution, Hoang Yen Chao and Hoang A Tuong father and son owned dozens of hectares of the best land at that time. In addition to collecting taxes like other local chiefs of the time, the Hoang father and son had a monopoly on collecting all the beeswax from the cliffs and trading opium on the road from China to the lowlands.
Panoramic view of the old Hoang A Tuong palace with the position of "leaning on the mountain and looking at the river".
Hoang A Tuong's family took a photo in front of the mansion (Photo courtesy of the family).
Hoang Yen Chao in western clothes and his first wife on the second floor of the mansion.
Mrs. Hoang Thi Hin, granddaughter of Hoang A Tuong, who is nearly 70 years old this year, showed us a photo of the old mansion. A castle was located between the strong walls of rammed earth mixed with molasses.
I heard that the entire mansion was 4000 square meters wide. All four walls had high watchtowers in the middle with guards standing guard day and night. It was not much different from the fortresses in Europe in the past.
The mansion now.
The stairs jut out.
Until now, the surrounding walls have been destroyed but the mansion still stands tall with its horizontal and vertical floors, enough to make viewers amazed and admire. There are 36 rooms in total. The arched staircase protrudes outward, under the stairs are two guardhouses and a small room used for resting for the guards.
Climbing seventeen steps will lead to the balcony and reach the main gate of the castle. The castle courtyard is nearly two hundred square meters, paved with baked bricks, often the place where flower shows take place all night long. Three two-story buildings, each with three rooms on the floor, hug the courtyard.
The main row is one and a half meters higher than the yard, with a pointed roof and tiled roof.
terracotta, tiled floor
The facade is decorated with elaborate motifs.
On the left and right sides are two rows of houses with the same layout.
built lower than the main range.
The arched, circular rolling doors have a strong Western style.
Mr. Vang Van Giao, an old man in Ta Chai village, recounted that: In early 1914, Hoang Yen Chao, father of Hoang A Tuong, started to build the mansion. The construction site was chosen by the most skilled feng shui masters in China. It was a hill that converged all the elements of dragon - vein - water - sand, leaning against the mountain overlooking the river, behind and on both sides were mountains as support, in front was a clear, winding stream.
Decorative pictures through the wall are both beautiful, airy and effective.
loopholes are useful in defense and combat.
With the power of a district chief in the middle of a vast plateau, Hoang Yen Chao mobilized tens of thousands of workers and thousands of buffaloes and horses to build the mansion. The workers were mainly criminals and were divided into two groups. Each group built half of the house independently and then put it together.
The design of the project was assigned to two architects: one French and one Chinese. Mr. Giao said: the mansion was modeled after the Western villas in Hong Kong at that time.
Questions about the "treasure" tunnel
Behind the mansion there is still a fairly large tunnel poured entirely with concrete several dozen centimeters thick. The entrance to the tunnel is rectangular, about 1.5 meters high and 1 meter wide. Deep inside is a room about 5-6 square meters wide. At the end of the tunnel is a staircase leading up to the hill behind the mansion.
The tunnel entrance is located behind the mansion.
Fire escape or drug stash?
The stairs lead up to the hill behind the mansion.
Some people think that this is an opium storage cellar (like the opium storage cellar in the Vuong Chi Sinh mansion in Ha Giang), but others think that this is an escape route built by Hoang Yen Chao to prevent accidents. Some people even think that among the underground cellars, there still exists the treasure of the Hoang father and son.
Mr. Hoang Tuan Anh, head of the Department of Culture and Information of Bac Ha district, added: Perhaps in the past, the tunnel was a passage to the military camp behind the mansion. In 1979, during the border war, this tunnel was reused by military units, it is unknown if there were any changes compared to the original.
Terracotta roof tiles typical of the highlands.
Stairs to the second floor of the mansion.
The mountains are in the distance.
People in Bac Ha once rumored that on the day of the inauguration of the project, the two architects of the house went missing. It is not known whether this disappearance is directly related to the fact that Hoang Yen Chao did not want anyone to have the design drawings and know the secrets of the mansion.
Around 1950, when Lao Cai was liberated, Hoang A Tuong's entire family fled to Lam Dong to live, leaving behind a mansion in Bac Ha town. People do not know whether all of Hoang A Tuong's enormous wealth was taken away or is still hidden somewhere in the mansion?
Some items of the ethnic minorities in the Bac Ha highlands are on display.
Now the rooms are empty, the only valuables left are
4 elaborately carved sofas.
The building bears the marks of Western architecture.
The project was completed in 1921, after seven years of construction.
Although the rumors about the treasure are unclear, if Hoang A Tuong's mansion is exploited and put into tourism service properly, this will be a real treasure of Bac Ha in particular and Lao Cai in general.
