Bao Vinh Ancient Street

At some places, standing still for a moment is enough to hear the sounds of several hundred years ago. Bao Vinh Ancient Street in Hue is one of them.

Bao Vinh lies on the Bồ River, in the Hương Trà area. From the 17th century to the 19th, it was one of the busiest trading ports in Đàng Trong. Đàng Trong was the southern realm ruled by the Nguyễn lords in the 17th and 18th centuries. Merchant boats from China, Japan and India came in one after another. Silk, pottery and agarwood changed hands from early morning until late at night. Agarwood is a fragrant, resinous wood used for incense and perfume. The cries of sellers, the splash of oars and the voices of people bargaining in every kind of language once kept this stretch of river loud and alive.

In the mind's eye, sailing boats lie packed together on the water. Goods are heaped on the landing, and traders from far-off lands sit talking under low eaves. That was Bao Vinh several hundred years ago, a commercial gateway for the whole of central Vietnam.

Then times changed. The trade routes shifted, and Bao Vinh slipped slowly into quiet. But the street did not vanish. It stayed where it was, silent beside the river.

To this day, houses more than 200 years old still stand. Their tile roofs are mossy, their wooden pillars a polished brown, and their walls streaked with color by the passing years. Each house is a layer of memory. Together they keep the shape of a prosperous port town of long ago, a shape few other places in central Vietnam have held on to.

Along the street, daily life goes on right beside history. People open their shops, cook, and chat in front of their houses, as the generations before them did. There are not many large signs and not many tourist guides. There are only the street, the river, and the shade of trees falling across the road.

At the river landing, as evening comes down, the water spreads with a golden light. It is easy to see why people long ago chose this very place to stop their boats and stay.