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P
ho Hien was a well-known, inter-
national trading river-port town.
It was founded in the 16th cen-
tury but was most prosperous
during the 17th. Lying on the banks
of the Red River between present day
Haiphong and Hanoi, the town was the
most important gateway to the capital
of Thang Long.
An old saying went: “The capital
ranks first, Pho Hien ranks second.”
Time has rolled on and the names of
these places have changed. When the
expression was first uttered the capital
would have been named Thang Long,
but would have also been well-known
as Trang An. Back then the city was
made up of 36 bustling trading streets.
Pho Hien now belongs to Hung Yen
town in Hung Yen province. It was
dubbed Little Trang An and was home
to 23 streets of traders.
This bustling trading port would
have seen Chinese, Japanese, Dutch,
French, Portuguese and British mer-
chants sailing up the river to do busi-
ness and it became a vibrant commer-
cial and cultural melting pot. These
foreign émigrés established streets,
such as Dong Do and Quang Hoi, Bac
Hoa and Nam Hoa streets. They built
commercial firms, shops, club-houses,
temples and pagodas for their own reli-
gious and business needs.
Two centuries after its establish-
ment, Pho Hien was moved over two
kilometres inland because the flow of
the Red River changed. Only resplendent
memories remain along with 60 relics
of ancient pagodas, temples and club-
houses, as well as hundreds of stone
steles and thousands of ancient objects.
DESTINATION HUNG YEN