Bac Lieu tourism: Many unexpected discoveries

Only Bac Lieu has an ancient stone clock over a hundred years old, which is still extremely accurate. There is also an ancient tower preserved quite intact, in addition, visitors can also eat fruit from a mango man over 300 years old.

Only Bac Lieu has an ancient stone clock over a hundred years old, which is still extremely accurate. There is also an ancient tower preserved quite intact, in addition, visitors can also eat fruit from a mango man over 300 years old.

"Mango man" over 300 years old - Vietnamese heritage tree

The tree's height is about 20m, the canopy spreads over 300m2, the mango root is "6 people embracing", located about 7km from the center of Bac Lieu city, located in Bien Tay A hamlet, Vinh Trach Dong commune, Bac Lieu city .

This is a coastal land with salt water all year round, but under the mango tree there is an underground water vein. The special thing about this water vein is fresh water. It is this water vein that helps the mango trees flourish all year round. Here, a hole was dug to collect fresh water for use in daily life.

Legend has it that: At that time, it was still a sacred forest with poisonous water, with many wild animals. Under a mango tree, a tiger appeared, but it was strangely gentle, never harassing the villagers. On the contrary, people feel protected by this tiger.

That's why the villagers worshiped the tiger as the “Tiger God”, every year on the 28th day of the 7th lunar month, they held solemn worship under the mango tree, offering offerings to the “Tiger God” has become a religion. folklore of local people to pray for peace, good weather, a prosperous and happy life.

Despite its long life, mangoes still flower and bear fruit every year, especially the mango fruit is very fragrant and sweet. When the mango season is ripe, the fragrance spreads throughout the entire region, people here are often very proud to call "Mr. Xoai".

Currently, the mango tree is one of the attractive attractions that attracts tourists and is a living and entertainment spot for local people. With its longevity and rare characteristics, in 2015, the tree was recognized by the Vietnam Association for the Protection of Nature and Environment as a Vietnamese heritage tree. Currently, the ancient mango tree is owned and managed by the Board of Directors of Huynh Thien The De Temple.

Vinh Hung Ancient Tower

About 20 km from the center of Bac Lieu city, Vinh Hung ancient tower is located in Trung Hung 1B hamlet, Vinh Hung A commune, Vinh Loi district, Bac Lieu province, discovered in 1911.

Vinh Hung ancient tower is said to be one of the remaining structures of the Oc-eo culture in the Southwest region. Through many surveys in the area, archaeologists have discovered many pieces of pottery and many bronze statues, with valuable evidence of a long-standing culture. The Ancient Tower has been recognized by the Ministry of Culture and Information. Ranked as a national architectural and artistic relic in 1992.

After more than a thousand years, the outside of the tower was peeling off, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Bac Lieu province had to go to the East to find soil to bring back and bake it into bricks to restore a part of the front that had been damaged. damaged.

Inside the Tower, the lower bricks are reddish brown, from a height of 4.15 m upwards the gray white bricks are larger in size but lighter than the lower bricks.

During seminars in recent years, archaeologists identified that Vinh Hung Tower is not an isolated or solitary relic, but along with this ancient relic, there are also other relics of the type of residence and life. Actively distributed in many places in Vinh Hung region. However, those relics have become ruins, recording traces of a fairly large residential area that developed and existed many centuries ago. Currently, only Vinh Hung tower has been preserved quite intact to this day.

Today, the Ancient Tower has been restored and a gallery has been built to display excavated artifacts as well as documents related to this ancient tower. This has attracted many tourists to Vinh Hung Ancient Tower to learn more about the golden age of Oc-eo culture, and is one of the indispensable special attractions in the tour itinerary. , explore Bac Lieu tourism.

The only stone clock in Vietnam

The stone clock, also known as the “Thai Duong clock”, “sundial” was designed by scientist Luu Van Lang (1880 - 1969), a native of Tan Phu Dong village, Sa Dec town, Dong Thap province. designed and built around the first decades of the 20th century, on the campus of the Bac Lieu Provincial Court of Counsel (now located on 30/4 Street, Ward 3, Bac Lieu City).

This is the only watch in Vietnam, and the second in the world. At first glance, this is just a block of concrete with seemingly normal Roman numerals on the surface.

This clock is special in that it only uses sunlight and does not use any type of machinery or any metal. The clock is about 0.8m high, 1m wide, on a bronze surface. The clock has 12 equally divided Roman numerals. In the middle of the clock face is a raised edge. This edge limits sunlight from shining directly on the numbers, dividing the clock into two parts: light and dark. . The part where sunlight does not shine directly is dark, the remaining part is not shaded by the edge, so the color is brighter.

The junction between those two colors is the hour of the day. Looking at the area on the clock face that junction appears, people will know what time it is. In other words, sunlight falling on the rectangular part will create a light and dark streak. The number that lies within the line between the light and dark streaks is the number of hours. Early in the morning, as soon as the sun rises, the "needle" shines on the number 7. As the sun gradually gets higher, the "needle" gradually shines on the higher hourly numbers, until it stands still and shows the correct number 12. .

It became afternoon, the shadows tilted again at the right time. By the time the "needle" gradually lowered to the lowest step, the sun had set.

After a journey of more than 100 years, this watch still shows the time so accurately that the error fluctuates no more than 2 minutes compared to today's electronic wrist watches. This is a scientific work, ranked as a provincial historical relic by the People's Committee of Bac Lieu province in 2006.

Now, Bac Lieu tourism not only attracts tourists by the melodies of the Da Co Hoai Lang village, or the anecdotes of Bac Lieu's princes, but is also known as one of the places that preserves a rare treasure. of Vietnam. The sundial, over 100 years old, is a testament to the talent and creativity of Vietnamese people. Therefore, if you visit Bac Lieu, do not miss the opportunity to admire this sundial.

Bac Lieu 1525 view

Update day : 19/10/2023