Pho Hien - Bustling Ancient Commercial Port

[Mary]

Pho Hien - Hung Yen is a bustling ancient commercial port with unique architectural complex of 60 historical remains, 100 engraved stelae as well as many temples and pagodas.

Pho Hien is located 60km from Hanoi. To go there, take National Highway 5 to Pho Noi, then road 39A through rice fields and luxuriant gardens of longan trees.

From the 13* to the 15* century, Hien was a bustling commercial port with boats coming from China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Great Britain and France. But Hien slowly gave up its position as a commercial port to Hai Phong. However, today Hien still possesses a whole architectural complex of 60 historical remains, 100 engraved stelae as well as many temples and pagodas. Do not forget to visit the Hien Market.

The cage-longan (the name comes from the technique of covering the longans with cages to protect them from the birds) is a speciality of Pho Hien, which is famous in the whole country. The sweet cage-longans, with a thick pulp and a thin peel, used to be offered to kings only.