Only 4 km southwest of the city center of Hue, Thuy Bieu still has the appearance of a peaceful Vietnamese village with fragrant grapefruit gardens and hundred-year-old houses.
A peaceful village of Thuy Bieu is in Hue City.
Thuy Bieu Ward (Hue City, Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam) of today is the merger of two ancient villages, namely Nguyet Bieu and Luong Quan villages. Thuy means the Water, and Bieu is a container. It should be understood that Thuy Bieu means the Water Container. Its name can come from the position of three sides of Thuy Bieu surrounded by the poetic Perfume River (Huong Giang).
With that location, perhaps nowhere in Hue city has the luck to look at the Perfume River from many beautiful angles as in Thuy Bieu. And, standing up Vong Canh hill, a hill in the middle of the bend of the Perfume River, will give you a beautiful view of the lyrical nature of Hue. From here looking across the river is the Hon Chen Temple, and Thien Mu Pagoda, which are the holy places for the local people in this city.
Thuy Bieu Ward retains many unique and ancient architectural works, including the Ho Quyen and Voi Re arena. Over the course of 185 years, this ring-shaped arena remains intact with the inner and outer walls, the grandstand, the entrance, and the stone steps, making it possible for visitors to imagine some of the vital matches between elephants and tigers of the past.
Ancient houses and grapefruits are the highlights of Thuy Bieu Village.
The first highlight of Thuy Bieu is probably the system of ancient houses over 100 years old. This type of house has many pillars and rafters. Most of the communal houses in Hue faces to the south, made of solid wood, ironwood or jackfruit wood.
As a typical architectural feature of Hue, coming to Thuy Bieu, you will be able to see the impressive images and motifs with which are decorated on the beams, trusses, rafters, and columns like flower paintings.
To combat the harsh climate of Central Vietnam, the Ruong houses in Hue were covered with flat tiles, with two thick layers. As a result, summers are cool and winters are warm. The roof has a steep slope so it can stand with storms without breaking the tiles. Normally and simply, but anyone who enters a Ruong house in Hue can easily see the solid architecture and comfortable design of each house, especially wide gardens in front.
The gardens in Thuy Bieu are almost fence-free, with only short rows of trimmed trees, as symbolic meaning, to separate one garden from another.
Among the fruits here, the most attractive are grapefruits (pomelos) – a specialty of Hue. Pomelos are not big and heavy but mild sweet and without bitter taste. Despite harvesting only one season, the pomelo trees give Thuy Bieu village peaceful beauty and coolness, which makes it green all year round.
Spring (Feb – April) is the white flowers of fragrant grapefruits, summer is the green of young grapefruits. In autumn, Thuy Bieu attracts visitors full of fruits, stretching branches to cover the village roads, dangling and swinging on the tourists’ heads. Winter comes when the trees wait for the spring sunshine to cover.
At any time, just walking into the famous pomelo gardens in Thuy Bieu, visitors can immerse themselves in the cool, peaceful atmosphere of the Hue countryside. And it will never be forgotten if you can feel the aromatic, sweet, cool taste of the famous grapefruits here.
Using a bicycle is the best way to visit Thuy Bieu village.
Thuy Bieu village, one of the famous Hue attractions, with narrow roads and tranquil life attracts a lot of tourists coming here to explore its typical beauty. Renting a bicycle to ride along the Perfume River, on Le Loi Street, to Bui Thi Xuan Street to go into this village.
Wit a bike, you can be easy to go on the small village roads, to stop looking at grapefruit gardens, visit the old houses, or take pictures of the peaceful life of the local people.
Around 3 hours is a good duration for you to explore this place. However, if you want to spend more time here, you can book and join a cooking class. This is also a good chance to stay at Thuy Bieu village and react with the local people.
Coming to Hue, take your time to visit Thuy Bieu village to take yourself in the romantic scenery with tree-lined village roads, red-tiled roofs, ancient and peaceful wooden houses dwelling in an area of green nature.
Map of Thuy Bieu Village
You can see the map of Thuy Bieu Village directly on google here.
