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Hai Duong Travel Guide (P1)

Although Hai Duong is not a prominent name on the tourist map, it attracts tourists with its long-standing historical relics and peaceful, charming landscape.

Which season should you go to Hai Duong?

Hai Duong is suitable for visiting all four seasons of the year. However, the festival season from January to March is the most beautiful because Hai Duong has many temples and historical relics. The lychee harvest season is from May to June. The sunflower season is in October. December is the season of wild sunflowers blooming; visitors can check in to the flower street at the foot of Phu Tao Bridge, Hai Duong City. 

Read more: Hai Duong has a fish noodle dish that seems normal but it’s not

Discover Kinh Chu Cave – The hottest ‘Nam Thien De Luc Cave’ in Hai Duong

Move 

Hai Duong is about 60 km from Hanoi. There are a variety of means of transportation to Hai Duong, such as private cars, passenger cars, limousines, trains, etc.

Riding a limousine with quick and convenient travel time and spacious and comfortable seats is the fastest. You can refer to limousines at Di Chung for 250,000 VND per ticket, running continuously every 30 minutes. The cheaper option is Tuan Hai limousine, a 16-seat car with a frequency of 4 trips a day. In addition, you can choose to take a bus, refer to Phuc Xuyen, Dung Thuy... for 60,000-70,000 VND.

A more interesting and leisurely experience is taking the train to Phu Thai, Hai Duong, and Cam Giang stations on the way to Hai Phong. The train departs from Long Bien station and, on weekends, departs from Hanoi station.

Sightseeing

Scenic Landscapes

Chi Lang Nam Stork Island

Stork Island belongs to Chi Lang Nam commune, Thanh Mien district. With an area of more than 31,000 hectares, this place is home to about 12,000 storks and 5,030 egrets. The main storks are fire, fly, pied, black.... cauldrons are grey, blue, black...

Visitors have two options: duck boating or boating around the small islands. A loud noise can cause a disturbance in the whole herd. Herds of trees soared from the groves into the blue sky. Together with the clanging sounds, it all creates a breathtaking and wild scene.

It only takes about a day for visitors to go across the island. Some people come to the homestay site to stay overnight, enjoy the peaceful scenery, and learn about the stork's life in detail. Thanks to that, they can observe more scenes, such as when flocks of storks and storks fly out to search for food in the early morning and return in the late afternoon.

Root grass field

The root beach is next to the pine forest south of the foot of Con Son mountain, Chi Linh town, Hai Duong province. The root tree, also called Thanh Hao, blooms tiny white flowers with a pleasant fragrance in the fall. Going a few kilometres from this field, you will see a rose garden laden with fruit in the fall.
Sunflower field

The sunflower field on Truong Chinh Street will bloom in October, turning the area golden.

The flower garden is most beautiful in the morning from 8 - 9 am, to have natural sunlight and not be too crowded. Or you can visit here in the afternoon, from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm, to watch the sunset. The garden is open free of charge. In the evening, the flowers are further illuminated by light patterns.

Lychee tree

Thanh Ha is famous for its delicious lychees. Few people know that the lychees in the area come from the 200-year-old tree of Mr. Hoang Van Com. The lychee tree in Thanh Son commune, Thanh Ha district, is more than 200 years old, holding the record of "Oldest lychee tree".

Mr Hoang Van Com, from Thuy Lam village, Thanh Son commune, Thanh Ha district, brought seeds to nurse in 1870. He planted 3 trees, but only one survived and bore fruit, propagating it into the extensive Hai Duong region. To this day, the lychee tree is still lush.

Historical and cultural relics

Con Son - Kiep Bac special national relic site
Con Son-Kiep Bac is a historical relic area associated with the names of Vietnamese cultural heroes and celebrities such as Tran Hung Dao and Nguyen Trai.

Also read: Con Son – Kiep Bac (Hai Duong) has what attracts tourists for 4 seasons

Coming to Con Son, visitors cannot help but climb the romantic Ky Lan mountainside, with the peak called Ban Co Tien. On the right side of Ky Lan mountain, where Nguyen Trai built his teaching house, there are still traces of the old house's foundation along with a large stone slab that local people often call Thach Ban, also known as the "five compartments" stone (as wide as 5 houses), where Nguyen Trai used to sit and read books.

Kiep Bac is located on flat land in the middle of Dragon Mountain Valley. The three-entrance gate of Kiep Bac Temple is like the majestic scroll "Two dragons flanking the moon". Kiep Bac Temple overlooks the Thuong River (Luc Dau River). During the Tran Dynasty, this place was Binh Than Wharf.

Take a boat trip on the historic Binh Than River; in the middle of the stream is a 200 m-long dune called Con Kiem because Tran Hung Dao left behind a precious sword for future generations to preserve the Fatherland. Behind Kiep Bac Temple is the towering Dragon Forehead Mountain; on the left is Bac Dau Mountain; on the right is Nam Tao Mountain, embracing the majestic Kiep Bac on three sides.

Mao Dien Temple of Literature

Vietnam has a large Temple of Literature; the oldest is the Temple of Literature in Hanoi, and the second is the Temple of Literature Mao Dien, Cam Giang district, Hai Duong province. Mao Dien Temple of Literature (Hai Duong) is ranked as a special national monument.

The monument was established over 500 years ago, during the early Le dynasty. Mao Dien is the local name; the word Mao means grass; Dien means field. In the past, this place was a very large field with lots of fragrant grass. It was chosen as the Perfume Exam Theater of Hai Duong town. During the Tay Son Dynasty, the Temple of Literature was moved from Vinh Lai to merge with the Perfume Exam Theater. From then on, the relic was called Mao Dien Temple of Literature.

The Mao Dien Temple of Literature is situated in Cam Dien commune, Cam Giang district, Hai Duong province, northeast of Mao village, also called Mau Tai village. The Temple of Literature is about 200m north of National Highway 5A, 42km east of Hanoi's capital and 16km from Hai Duong's city centre.
Duoi Temple

Duoi Temple is also known as Quynh Hoa Tu, in Cam Cau village, Thong Nhat commune (Gia Loc, Hai Duong). This ancient temple was built during the Ly Dynasty (11th century). In 1991, Duoi Temple was ranked as a national monument.

Temple of Queen Mother Y Lan (March 7, 1044 - July 25, 1117). Her name was Le Thi Yen or Le Khiet, Emperor Ly Thanh Tong's concubine and biological mother of Emperor Ly Nhan Tong. Duoi Temple was a local revolutionary base during the war, a communication centre connected to the Viet Bac war zone.
Thanh Mai Pagoda

Thanh Mai Pagoda is in Hoang Hoa Tham commune, Chi Linh town, Hai Duong province. The pagoda was built on the slopes of Phat Tich mountain, now called Tam Bao Mountain. In front of the pagoda is Bai Vong Mountain, where there is the grave of Nguyen Phi Khanh, father of national hero and world cultural celebrity Nguyen Trai.

The pagoda was built in the 13th century. This is one of the centres of Vietnamese Buddhism, the abbot of Venerable Phap Loa - the second Patriarch of the Truc Lam Zen sect. The ancient pagoda collapsed after years of rain, sun, and war. Recently, the pagoda has been partially restored on the foundations of several large projects. The pagoda is located under a maple forest complex spread over an area of more than 100 hectares, of which more than 50 hectares are entirely within the pagoda's land.
An Phu - Kinh Chu - Nham Duong complex

A Phu - Kinh Chu - Nham Duong complex is a historical relic and special national scenic spot in Kinh Mon town, Hai Duong province. Relics include An Phu, including An Phu Temple and Tuong Van Pagoda (Cao Pagoda) in An Sinh commune; Kinh Chu: Kinh Chu Cave belongs to Kinh Chu mountain, Pham Menh commune (also known as Bo Da, Quan Chau, Thach Mon), and there is a cave leading to the sky called Duong Nham; Nham Duong: Nham Duong pagoda (Nham pagoda, the literal name is Thanh Quang) belongs to Duy Tan commune.
A Phu Temple is also called Cao Temple. The temple is located on the highest peak of the An Phu range. Legend has it that the temple was built during the Tran dynasty (13th century), worshipping An Sinh Vuong Tran Lieu - Father of Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan. The temple was built in the first and last architectural style, including the front altar, the middle temple and the back palace. The harem worships statues of Tran Lieu and his two grandchildren, First Vuong Co and Second Vuong Co - daughters of Hung Dao Dai Vuong.

Kinh Chu Cave has many nooks and crannies; in the middle is the Buddha altar, on the right is the altar of King Ly Than Tong and Ly Chieu Hoang, and inside is the altar of Thanh Hien and Ban Co. The left side of the cave worships Thanh Hoang and Monsignor. Deeper inside is the statue of Venerable Third Patriarch Truc Lam Huyen Quang.

Currently, there are a total of 47 ma chew stele in the cave, like a museum of epitaphs with talented carvings, clearly reflecting the contemporary decorative art style from the Tran, Le So, Mac, and Le Trung Hung to the Nguyen Dynasty in the 19th century.

Nham Duong Pagoda, the literal name of Thanh Quang Tu, is a large pagoda built in the Tran dynasty, embellished and busy in the Le and Nguyen dynasties. The pagoda also preserves 2 stone towers of the Le Dynasty - precious treasures showing the rich history of the pagoda. Nham Duong Pagoda also has archaeological sites such as Thanh Hoa Cave and Dark Cave, with 1,796 artifacts - mainly fossils of animals dating from 3 - 50,000 years ago.

Giam Pagoda

Giam Pagoda National Historic Site, located in Cam Son commune, Cam Giang district, Hai Duong, has the Cuu Pham Lien Hoa tower. According to a representative of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Hai Duong province, the pagoda was built in 1336 to worship the great physician Tue Tinh.

The hexagonal prism-shaped tower is Giam Pagoda's most prominent work. It is made from ironwood, is about 8 meters high, weighs 4 tons, and has many elaborately carved details. In the middle of the tower is a rotating axis that helps the whole building rotate with the push of one person.

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