Visit Bac Ninh Fringe Village

Sights to discover and explore Diem village tourism

 

1. Diem village communal house

From the capital Hanoi, visitors follow Highway 1B to come and turn left, go up the Cau river dike to reach Diem village. Like many traditional villages in Vietnam, coming to Diem village, you will immediately see the village gate covered with moss over the years. No one knows when the gate was built, only know that the elders here passed down this gate after building the village communal house. The village gate was built according to the ancient gate of Tam Mon (also known as Tam Quan) consisting of 3 aisles, the largest middle aisle and two side aisles on either side. The gate is built of malleable bricks, with a two-story structure and a roof. On the gate, there are four words written “Beneficial travel” which means “benefit through the village”. Those four words are like polite greetings to  tourists from Diem village, showing the essence of the ancestors of the land, respecting them with love and hospitality… At the top is a picture of an open letter book with a circle in the middle. Here, visitors will enjoy the peaceful space of the countryside with rows of ancient trees shady green surrounding the simple and ancient architecture.

 

 

2. Cung Temple – Jade Well

The Temple of Cung – Gieng Ngoc relic site is located at the foot of Kim Linh mountain. The temple worships two princesses, Princess Ngoc Dung and Princess Thuy Tien. Legend has it that these were the people who had merit in fighting the enemy to save the people and preserve the country, so the people built a temple here. A special thing is that at the temple there is an extremely sacred Ngoc well. This is an extremely attractive destination for  tourists in Diem village. Around the well was built a citadel about 1.2 meters high. The well is built from large blocks of stone stacked on top of each other, creating a large cave in the deepest floor. This floor has a depth of more than 2 meters, divided by 4 large ironwood trees taken from the mountain. The second floor is made up of large monolithic rocks that are closely arranged into 3 steps. No one knows how these stones are linked together, only that they are very strong to this day. The top floor of the well is made of bricks forming 9 steps to facilitate the people’s access to water. 

 

 

 

If you only look at the appearance, the well in front of the temple is not too prominent. However, when looking into the well, you will see clear water that can see down to the natural laterite layer deep below the well. Legend has it that this is a well that never runs dry. Elderly people in the village also recounted that since the birth of their parents, they had never seen a dry well. Inside the well, there are three magic fish swimming around. Called a god fish because the fish has been in the well for a long time, so long that even the elders don’t know when.. 

 

 

Ngoc well water is very precious and cool. Therefore, visitors to  Diem village  come here to enjoy the taste of this well water once. To get water, you need to leave your shoes and sandals on the shore and go barefoot to get water. Especially the water from the well can be drunk directly without boiling because the water is very clean. Just one sip and you will feel the cool and naturally sweet taste of well water. According to the people of Diem village, this water source is taken from the mountain, permeates through many layers of laterite, so it has a unique flavor that is unmatched anywhere else. Because of its preciousness, the people of Diem village often only take water from Ngoc well to make tea for precious guests, or cook wine for important occasions.

 

 

 

3. Dinh Diem

Diem communal house was built in the year of Nham Than 1692. The communal house was built in the style of Chinese characters on the high ground. The first image that impresses visitors is the 4-roofed communal house with a curved blade lying neatly at the beginning of the village. The front area consists of 5 compartments, 17.5m long, 14.9m wide, 6.8m long and 9m wide. Going inside the communal house is an airy, large space and four female pillars with a circumference of up to 2.14m.

 

 

 

Since ancient times, Diem communal house has been ranked as the largest and second most beautiful in the region with extremely delicate architectural art and carving stations. The old Diem communal house was quite superficial with three closed compartments and two wings forming a unified and harmonious whole. But later, due to the destruction of the war, many unique architectures were completely destroyed, making the current suspension of 1 compartment and 2 wings. That’s why this place still circulates the folk saying: “First is Dong Khang communal house, Second is Bang communal house, glorious Diem communal house”. In 1964, Diem communal house was honored to be recognized by the State as a national architectural and artistic relic, attracting many tourists to  Diem village .

 

 

 

4. Temple of the Ancestor Quan Ho

Talking about the village of Diem Bac Ninh is talking about the land that gave birth to sweet quan ho. The Quan Ho Ancestor Temple is the place to worship King Ba, who was instrumental in building the village and creating that quan ho song. It was from here that the first mandarin verses were sung deeply, spreading throughout the Kinh Bac region to become an Intangible Cultural Heritage representing humanity. After her death, the people of Diem village mournfully established a temple and took the 6th day of the first lunar month as a festival to commemorate her merits. In particular, in 49 Quan Ho villages in Bac Ninh, only Diem village has a temple to worship the ancestors of Quan Ho, so this place is called ancient quan ho village. It is said that this is the cradle of mandarins, so the voice of the people of Diem village always has a special, soulful, and full of love. 

 

 

 

Although the temple of the ancestors is not large, it has a very special meaning for the people here. The temple consists of three main areas including sacrifice, burning incense and harem. The pre-offering stall has a picture of a phoenix bearing four words “Vuong’s mother precepts”, and next to it is the date “Khai Dinh Giap Ty (1924)”. This mural has the meaning “Blessed Queen Mother”. The harem is where the tablet and statue of the Queen Mother are located. This place is only open on important holidays of the village. The statue of King Ba is sitting in a peaceful position, with a beautiful and gentle face, bearing the color of Kinh Bac people that cannot be confused with other places. 

 

In addition, this is also the place where the festival of the Temple of King Ba Toi Quan Ho takes place on the 6th day of the first lunar month. This is one of the 4 biggest festivals of the year of Diem village, along with the Chua Festival taking place on the full moon of the first month of January, the Tat Gieng festival on March 3 and the Communal house on August 6. However, it is attractive and attracts a large number of people. Most tourists from all over the world are still the festival of the Temple of King Ba Thuy To with the wish of people to pray for favorable rain and wind. King Ba Temple is the starting point of the festival as well as the ending point for the traditional procession around the village of Diem. Besides, in the festival, there are also many interesting games that you should not miss during your trip  to the attractive Diem village  .