Perfume River & Truong Tien Bridge in Hue City, Vietnam

Where is Location of Perfume River?

Perfume River (Hương River) originates from the Truong Son Dong mountain range. The main stream is Ta Trach with a length of 67km, originating from the Truong Son Dong range, along the Bach Ma area to the northwest, through Nam Dong town. Then it merges with Huu Trach stream with a length of 60km in the North through Bang Lang junction. At the place where these two streams meet to form the Perfume River.

Why is It called Perfume River Name?

Since ancient times, the Perfume River in Hue flows through many forests with many herbs with the fragrance of natural flowers and plants, so when entering Hue city, the river brings with it its natural fragrance and hence its name. Perfume River was born.

Truong Tien Bridge or Trang Tien Bridge is a 402.60 m long bridge, consisting of 6 comb-shaped steel beams with an aperture of 67 m each. The bridge is 6 m wide, designed in Gothic architecture, spanning the Perfume River. The northern bridgehead is in Dong Ba ward, the southern bridgehead is in Phu Hoi ward in the center of Hue city, Thua Thien Hue province, Vietnam.

History and Names of Trang Tien Bridge in Hue:

Based on the poem “Thuan Hoa becomes a matter” of poet Thai Thuan, poet Quach Tan said that under King Le Thanh Tong, the Perfume River had a bridge. People built the bridge with rattan and called Rattan Bridge. Because the bridge ‘s shape is like a rainbow facing the river, people called Mong bridge.

During French Colonialists, they deciaded to build a metal bridge here. Schneider et Cie et Letellier designed th bridge and started construction in May 1899, inaugurated on December 18, 1900. Basically, the bridge has 6 blocks, each of which is 66.66 meters long. The bridge deck is 4.5 m wide and has two curbs on both sides, 0.75 m wide on each side. Completion cost is 732,456 Francs

The flood in 1904 destroyed 2 arches of the bridge. Then Mr Daydéet Pillé repaired the remaining two arches of bridges. And built four other new arches in the old style. In 1907, French exiled King Thanh Thai to Réunion Island. French colonial government renamed it Clémenceau Bridge, after Georges Clemenceau, a French Prime Minister during World War I.

In the years 1905-1915, the bridge deck was covered with reinforced concrete. The bridge was degraded due to rust and increasing traffic. So, the government negotiated with the Eiffel Firm to find a way to repair it. On June 20, 1937, the Eiffel Company carried out the construction of the bridge expansion. In November 1939, after 29 months of construction, Trang Tien Bridge completed.

And in 1945, the government of Tran Trong Kim changed its name to Nguyen Hoang Bridge. In 1946, during the Vietnam-France war. The Viet Minh mined and demolished two spans on the left bank. During the Tet Offensive, the bombbing destroyed the 3rd and 4th arches. After that, they temporarily built a pontoon bridge next to it to connect the two banks.

Since the Hue Festival in 2002, local governmant installed a modern color changing lighting system. Walking along Perfume River or crossing Phu Xuan Bridge, then you can see beautiful colors changing. This is one of the Best Hue Tourist Attraction at Night Time.

See More Useful Articles for Hue Travel:

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• Best Things to Do and to See in Hue Vietnam
• Top 5 Most Famous & Sacred Pagodas in Hue