Old Chau Doc

Many cities introduce themselves with buildings. Châu Đốc does it another way. It uses the smell of fermented fish, the rhythm of the morning market, and the sound of waves on the Hậu River.

Stand on Bạch Đằng Street and look out over the water, and you are at one of the oldest historic gateways of the southwestern part of the country. That water is the Hậu River, one of the two branches of the Mekong that flow through Vietnam. Four peoples live together here on a strip of land beside the Hậu River: ethnic Vietnamese, ethnic Chinese, Cham and Khmer. Together they made this place a meeting point of water routes and land routes, among the liveliest in the whole border region. This mixing shows in local customs and habits. It can also be heard in the calls of the sellers, the haggling, and the voices inviting shoppers to come closer.

The name Châu Đốc first appears in 1757. According to the An Giang newspaper, that was the year Lord Nguyễn Phúc Khoát set up three new commands, on the advice of Nguyễn Cư Trinh. They were called Tân Châu, Châu Đốc and Đông Khẩu, and their task was to manage the military affairs of the new region. The Nguyễn lords were a noble family who ruled southern Vietnam from the 16th to the 18th century. So the name did not come from a peaceful market town. It came from the need to defend a frontier and to open it up. In the nearly 300 years since, Châu Đốc has kept the character of a border city: practical, full of color, and full of life.

The Châu Đốc market on Bạch Đằng Street is a busy food market. Its local specialties are fish, mắm and dried goods. Mắm is fish fermented with salt. Making mắm and processing fish and other aquatic products have become part of what makes Châu Đốc a place of the southwest. Walking past the stalls of mắm and dried goods, a visitor sees more than ordinary merchandise. Goods like these on the stalls are the result of a river environment, plentiful fish, long-practiced salting, and a trading network that took shape over many generations.

From the market, the town opens onto the riverbank. In the past, Châu Đốc was a busy trading port, where goods from Cambodia poured out across the whole southwest. On the Hậu River today, boats still pass back and forth. The river life tied to this land since the 18th century can still be felt.

Further along stands Đình Châu Phú, the Châu Phú Communal House, at the corner of Trần Hưng Đạo Street and Nguyễn Văn Thoại Street. It is a national monument of architecture and art, and it honors Lễ Thành Hầu Nguyễn Hữu Cảnh, a general under the Nguyễn lords. The communal house is still a living place of worship. Each year, in the fifth lunar month, the house holds the Kỳ Yên festival in his memory. Kỳ Yên is a village festival at the communal house that welcomes the spirits and prays for peace and good fortune. On those days the sound of drums and ceremonial music rises under the old roof, and the faith of the people of Châu Đốc goes on as it has for generations.

Between these places, a few old southern-style houses sit tucked among rows of modern buildings. Châu Đốc still has some houses more than 100 years old. One is a house of the Lê Công clan, begun in 1909 and finished in 1912. The roof tiles are mossy and the wooden pillars are dark with time. Each house seems to keep its own piece of the memory of this border town.

Walk through the old center of Châu Đốc and it is easy to see why this land needs no sign to prove its depth. The history here lies in the layers of the market, in the roof of the communal house, on the river landing, in the old houses, and in the memories of the people who live here. Beside the Hậu River, the sound of the market drifts from behind and boats move slowly downstream. The rhythm of a border city almost 300 years old is still breathing, right before the eyes.