Impérial city of Hue

Today we have a walking tour of the Imperial City, a 2 century old complex that was the home of the final dynasty of Nguyen. Their capital city of Hue lasted from the first emperor until the 13th, when Bao Dai abdicated.

There is not much left of the city. It's being excavated and restored after massive damage from war and climate. The Tet Offensive in 1968 was one significant cause of damage. We have met our guide at the 9 cannons, and she gives us a brief overview of the importance of numbers in Vietnamese culture. We will see these numerical themes repeated as we tour. The 9 from 9 cannons signifies eternity and longetivity.

Confusingly for us, the 9 cannons are divided into 4 and 5. Five for the 5 elements ( fire, metal, wood, metal, earth). The 4 we're told, is very unlucky so that remains unclear. As we walk through the geometrically laid out city, we note the repetition of 3. 3 steps to enter, 3 levels of building.

Within the moat and wall surrounding the Imperial City is the Forbidden City, where only the emperor and his family could enter. That family could grow to incredible size. The emperor Minh Mang had over 500 wives, and over 100 children!

As we move further into the complex we approach the forbidden city. An imposing gate has an entry reserved for the emperor only. Surprisingly all gates and doors glide sideways as opposed to the more expected western vertical.

The existence of gardens are visible, and remnants of the thousands of homes, temples, and buildings that were here.

The home of the empress mother is notable for the clearly French influenced architecture, and the star of the site glitters in the sun as we come to the Kien Trung Palace. This is the reconstruction of the palace of the last 2 emperors.

The sun picks up all the jewel colors of the broken China used to mosaic the exteriors. It's eye-catching. I'm curious if China is purchased and broken on purpose, or created first then broken. But I don't think our guide understands my question.

She has been a good guide, but unfortunately soft spoken. Again it's the little details she adds that are most interesting, such as the modern personal anecdote about recent flooding. She explains the cost of vegetables sky rocketed due to scarcity, so everyone was living on noodles and meat!

We've met an Aussie couple on the tour, who inspired such Canadian pride in me. The husband remarked ah you've got Carney there now, he's a good 'un. Smart guy.

We have made the barest of fingertip dents into the riches and complexities of Vietnamese culture. I'm fascinated, and will be researching more.Read more