Bac Lieu

Area: 2,584.1 sq. km
Population: 820.1 thousand habitants (2006)
Capital: Bac Lieu Town.
Districts: Hong Dan, Vinh Loi, Gia Rai, Dong Hai, Phuoc Long, Hoa Binh.
Ethnic groups: Viet (Kinh), Khmer, Hoa, Cham...
Introduction:

Attraction:

- Historical & Cultural Vestiges: Quan De Pagoda, Vinh Hung Ancient Tower, Western villas in Bac Lieu, Xiem Can Pagoda.

- Ecological Travel: Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary.

Geography
Bac Lieu Province situated in the Mekong River Delta. It shares its border with Can Tho City and Soc Trang Province to the north, the East Sea to the south, Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces to the west. Bac Lieu has many large rice paddies and fertile land, which make a good condition for fruit tree planting.

Climate

The weather is divided into two seasons: rainy and dry seasons. The annual average temperature is 24ºC.

Tourism and Economy
Bac Lieu Town is on side of Bac Lieu Canal, 10km from the sea. Bac Lieu residents grow rice, fruit trees, catch seafood and make salt.

Bac Lieu used to play an important role in exploitation and developing of French colonialists so that the province has several western-style villas and palaces.

Going there, tourists have more knowledge about very rich and popular Bac Lieu Mandarins. And they can visit the Bac Lieu Bird Reserve, unforgettable taste longan gardens, Viet Hung old Tower, Xiem Can Pagoda or discover mangrove cajeput forest.

Transportation
Bac Lieu is 280km from Ho Chi Minh City, 67km from Ca Mau, 50km from Soc Trang, and 113km from Can Tho. The National Highway No. 1A crosses the province and links to Soc Trang and Ca Mau provinces.

Attraction

1) Historical & Cultural Vestiges

• Quan De Pagoda

Location: Quan De Pagoda is located on the bank of Bac Lieu River in Bac Lieu Town, Bac Lieu Province.
Characteristics: The architecture of the Quan De Pagoda deeply characterizes the Hoa people.
The Hoa people in the area consider the pagoda to be a cultural symbol. Quan De Pagoda was built in 1835 by a Chau Quai salt merchant who encouraged the local people to raise funds for its construction.
It houses several precious religious artifacts; and Quan Van Truong, a Chinese military mandarin from the San Kuo period, is worshipped here.

• Vinh Hung Ancient Tower

Location: The tower is situated in Vinh Hung Commune, Vinh Loi District, about 20km from Bac Lieu Town, Bac Lieu Province.
Characteristics: The tower is the only structure in style of Angkor of Khmer people preserved in the Mekong Delta.
Vinh Hung Tower was found in 1911 and listed as one of the historical sites in the South. Vinh Hung Tower is also known as Luc Hien or Bhah Dhat Tower.
In the 20th century, archeologists found a stele engraved with Sanskrit in a pagoda next to the tower. The tower is built of bricks, which are so tight that we cannot see mortar between bricks. It is 8.9 meter high. Its base is rectangular with a side of 5.6 meters and the other of 6.9 meters. There are hand of a deity made of bronze, a lower part of bronze statue, a stone statue of the goddess, head of Buddha statue and many worshipping objects.
Monks in the tower pagoda chant twice a day at 4 am and 4 pm. Every year, local residents organize an anniversary on the 15th day of the first lunar month at the tower. A large number of Buddhists inside and outside Bac Lieu Province pilgrimage to the pagoda to pray for good things.

• Western villas in Bac Lieu

Location: They are located in Bac Lieu Town, Bac Lieu Province.
Characteristics: The early 20th century Western - style buildings have spacious surroundings, symmetrical architecture, and tile-covered roofs.
Unlike many other provinces, such as Cantho and An Giang, there are still many western-style buildings include the villa of Bac Lieu Mandarin’s son, which stands along the river, and other buildings situated in the Hang Me Park, such as the Administration House, the court, the Bo Mansion (the building of the head mandarin) the Son quarter official building, and Dong Trach. Presently, these building are used for the provincial Library, the People’ Court of Investigation, and the office for the Bac Lieu Newspaper.
The construction materials, including steel, marble, tile, and brick, were all imported from France. The 20th century Western –style buildings have spacious surroundings, symmetrical architecture, and tile-covered roofs. The roofs are octagonal, and the supporting rafters look somewhat like those in a pagoda. The old villas and mansions of Bac Lieu have their own style, quite unlike the French villas in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City or Dalat.
In general, they feature high ceilings; their exteriors are washed with yellow paint, and they have high vault-like roofs. The 30 mansions and villas that remain standing along the two banks of the river in Bac Lieu have become part of the heritage of Bac Lieu Province.

• Xiem Can Pagoda

Location: The Xiem Can Pagoda is located 7km from the town of Bac Lieu, on the same road that leads to the Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary.
Characteristics: This Khmer pagoda is over a century old, and was built, carved, and decorated in an original ethnic style.

2) Ecological Travel

• Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary

Location: Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary is located in Hiep Thanh Commune, Bac Lieu Town, Bac Lieu Province.
Characteristics: The sanctuary is one of the most attractive ecological tourist spots in the Mekong River Delta.
According to documentation of Bac Lieu Bird Sanctuary Nature Reserve, in the first, it was a coastal rich and diversified salt forest floor with the natural salt-marsh ecosystem. As a part of the remaining forest floor along the East Sea, it is increasingly far from the sea due to alluvial deposits. In 1962, it was looked after, protected and controlled by a household. Then, the local authority realized that it is a precious natural property, so they have a step by step investment.
With the natural salt-marsh forest ecosystem on the area of approximately 385ha, of which 19ha is primitive forest, the garden is the home of around 46 kinds of birds, some of which are in the Red Book such as Giang Sen, small King Cormorant…; 109 kinds of plants belong to 90 lines of 46 descents; 150 kinds of animals, of which there are 58 kinds of fish, 7 kinds of amphibians, 10 mammals, 8 reptiles and some other kinds of animals living together in the same diversified community which needs preservation and development.
The Sanctuary is the important home of several water birds, mainly teal, stork, heron, night heron and cormorant. Each flock of birds flies for food in the early morning and returns their nests in the Sanctuary in the evening while the night birds start their journeys, which agitate the atmosphere of the Sanctuary.
Over nearly one century, the Sanctuary is the place where generations of birds are born, usually in the rainy season, and developed. There are currently some 40,000 birds and 5,000 nests, according to preliminary statistics. Birds mostly gather here during the rainy season between May and October.
 

(Source: Vietnam National Administration of Tourism)