Perfume River in Hue City The Perfume River (Vietnamese: Sông Hương or Hương Giang; Hán nôm: 香江) is a river that crosses the city of Huế, in the central Vietnamese province of Thừa Thiên Huế. In the autumn, flowers from orchards upriver from Huế fall into the water, giving the river a perfume-like aroma. The Perfume River has two sources, both of which begin in the Dãy Trường Sơn mountain range and meet at Bang Lang Fork. The Ta Trach (Left Tributary) originates in the Truong Dong mountains and flows northwest towards Bang Lang Fork. The shorter Huu Trach (Right Tributary) flows past the Tuan ferry landing towards Bang Lang Fork.

The river then flows in south-north direction past the temples of Hon Chen and Ngoc Tran and then turns north-west, meandering through the Nguyet Bieu and Luong Quan plains. Continuing on, the Huong River then flows to the north-east to Huế city, only an echo of Truong Son mountain, and passes the resting place of Nguyen emperors. The river of green water continues its itinerary, passing Hen Islet and various villages, crossing the Sinh junction, which is known as the capital of ancient Chau Hoa, before emptying into the Tam Giang Lagoon.

From Bang Lang to Thuan An estuary, the Perfume River is 30 km long and runs very slowly (as the river level is not much above sea level). The Perfume River darkens as it winds along the foot of Ngoc Tran Mountain - home of the Jade Cup Temple - where there is a very deep abyss.

The river snakes through the villages of Kim Long, Nguyet Bieu, Vy Da, Dong Ba, Gia Hoi, the Dinh market, Nam Pho, Bao Vinh, and through Huế.

The locals who live beside the river in Huế are often very poor and wash their clothes and bathe in the water. Also, they earn money by dredging the river bed for sand. This sand is collected and then sold to cement manufacturers for a tiny price.

The 105m Ngu Binh Mountain has a striking and symmetric figure. On both sides of the Even Mount (Bang Son) are 2 small mounts called Ta Bat Son (Left Mount) and Huu Bat Son (Right Mount). After observing that Bang Son resembled a screen, the Nguyễn Dynasty decided to build up Huế which became known as their "Forbidden Purple City." Emperor Gia Long approved the design of geomancers which chose this mount as a front altar of the imposing and solid defending wall system, and renamed it Ngu Binh.

Source: wikipedia.org

Perfume River - Hue

From Bang Lang to Thuan An estuary, the Perfume River is 30km long (The river level is not much above that of the sea) so that the river runs very slowly. The colour of the Perfume River is darker when it runs along the foot of Ngoc Tran Mount - the Jade Cup Temple (Dien Hon Chen) - where there is a very deep abyss.

The Perfume River is beautiful sight from its source, and runs among mountains, forest trees, plants, etc, bringing with it fragrances of tropical flora. The river runs slowly through the verdant and shady villages of Kim Long, Nguyet Bieu, Vy Da, Dong Ba, Gia Hoi, Dinh market, Nam Pho, Bao Vinh, mingling with the odors of flowers of Hue... The river with the shimmer blue limpid colour is like a pearl in the sun. Boats are rowed up and down with remote, meditative and deep folk melodies at deep night. It is an eternal pleasure for many generations of tourists who go boating to behold the poetic landscape, to listen to the folk melodies of Hue in tranquil nights.

The views on both sides of the river with the citadel, town, gardens, pagodas, towers and temples, etc. and their reflections in the waters make the already loveable river even more poetic and musical. Many people think that Hue city has peaceful, gentle and tranquil landscapes mostly thanks to the Perfume River. This river brings to the city a meditative poetic characteristics and the harmonious limpidity exhaling from a land of age-old culture.

Together with the Perfume River, 105m Ngu Binh Mount is the second invaluable gift endowed by Nature to Hue. These two mingle with each other creating the Romantic Mountain and river beauty of Hue. For a long time, this beautiful mount and the blue limpid Perfume River have become the symbol of Hue city. Therefore, people often call Hue "The land of the Perfume River (Huong River) and Ngu Binh Mount" or "Huong-Ngu Land".

Perfume River in Hue, Hue Perfume River, Perfume River, Song Huong, hue Song Huong, Song Huong o Hue