Ninh Kieu Wharf

From the bank, the Hậu River opens out so wide that you have to lift your eyes to find the far shore.

This is Ninh Kiều Wharf. For more than half a century it has been the cultural and tourist symbol of Cần Thơ.

But before the wharf itself comes its name. The name Ninh Kiều carries a piece of history, and that history begins far from the Hậu River.

This place has had three names.

Under French rule, a commercial port was built here and given a French name, Quai de Commerce. It means the Commerce Wharf.

Boats from this wharf carried goods to every corner of the six old provinces of the south.

In 1954, after the Geneva Accords, France began to withdraw from Vietnam.

The old name sign was replaced. Quai de Commerce became Lê Lợi Wharf. It was named for the national hero Lê Lợi. Early in the 15th century, he led the Lam Sơn uprising, which drove out the armies of the Ming, the dynasty then ruling China.

Then, in 1957, the chief of Phong Dinh province proposed another new name. Phong Dinh was what Cần Thơ was called at the time.

And in August 1958, the name Ninh Kiều Wharf was officially recognized.

The choice of Ninh Kiều goes back to a battle.

Ninh Kiều is the name of a famous battle fought by the Lam Sơn forces in 1426.

At the village of Ninh Kiều, a large Ming army was defeated. The victors were Lê Lợi and the soldiers and people of Đại Việt, an old name for Vietnam. The battle was recorded by Nguyễn Trãi in the Bình Ngô Đại Cáo. One line of it says that at Ninh Kiều, blood ran in rivers.

That is one of the best-known lines of a text that many regard as the second declaration of independence of Vietnam.

But there is a twist. The battle of Ninh Kiều in 1426 did not take place in Cần Thơ. It was fought at the village of Ninh Kiều, which now lies in the Chương Mỹ area of Hanoi.

The province chief simply borrowed that historic name. He wanted to link the land of Cần Thơ with the nation's long tradition of resisting foreign invasion. The name fit so well that it has lasted to this day, through many political and historical changes.

On July 1, 2025, a new Cần Thơ City came into being. It was formed by merging three provincial-level units. They were the old city, Hậu Giang province and Sóc Trăng province.

The map was redrawn, but the name Ninh Kiều stayed.

The new Ninh Kiều ward, where the wharf stands, was formed from three older wards. Tân An and Thới Bình were two of them. Xuân Khánh was the third. The administrative center of the new city is still here in Ninh Kiều.

Now the eye turns to the river. This is the Hậu River, one of the two main branches through which the Mekong crosses Vietnam.

In front of the wharf is the passenger pier. In the half-light before dawn, boats are already setting out for the Cái Răng floating market. The trip takes about 30 minutes by motorboat. At night, restaurant boats cruise along the river. On board there are cải lương songs and the đờn ca tài tử music of the south.

To the left, a footbridge curves in the shape of an S. People in Cần Thơ call it Cầu Tình Yêu, the Love Bridge. Its official name is the Ninh Kiều Footbridge.

In the middle of the bridge stand two large lotus flowers. At night the whole bridge glows with lights that change color. It is a favorite place for young people in Cần Thơ to take photographs.

The bridge crosses the Khai Luông canal and links the wharf with Cái Khế islet.

This footbridge is not the same as the Cần Thơ Bridge. That is the large cable-stayed bridge over the Hậu River to Vĩnh Long. It opened in 2010.

Hai Bà Trưng Street runs along the riverbank. In the evening, it becomes a walking street, and the night market comes together.

This street used to be called Lê Lợi Street. The night market is full of the smell of Cần Thơ specialties. There is bánh xèo, and bún cá. There is lẩu mắm, a fermented fish hotpot, and bánh tằm bì. Cần Thơ has its own bánh cống, too. Then come Mekong Delta fruit and handmade souvenirs.

Dinner on a boat on the Hậu River, with đờn ca tài tử drifting over the water, is something special to this city.

Đờn ca tài tử of southern Vietnam has been recognized by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage since 2013. It is an art of music and song that evokes life on the land and rivers of the Mekong Delta. Sitting on a boat, with the calm river flowing beneath and the city lights shimmering along the bank, is a pleasure that belongs to this part of the country.

When night falls, the long notes of a đờn kìm hum out across the water. The Love Bridge glows and its reflection lies on the river. A cool wind rises off the Hậu River.

Ninh Kiều Wharf stays as it has always been, gentle and open-hearted, like the people of the Mekong Delta.