Hoi An Lanterns

After the grueling motorcycle journey from Hue to Hoi An. We finally arrived at our hotel. Our guides bade us farewell since they still need to go back to their families in Danang City. I realize their job is also tough on them since there will be times that they would be away from their families for periods of time. Fortunately for them, Hoi An is just a relatively short distance away from Danang City so they should be able to get back home before dark.

Reciting Poetry

After checking in to our hotel, we took some time to freshen up as our faces were already caked with dirt from our journey. The shower was really refreshing and now I have strength to continue our exploration.

I was already dark when we got out of the hotel, but Hoi An is a relatively small city. The immediate area of the hotel pretty looks much like any other Vietnamese city or town. However, things started to get interested when we approached the Thu Bon River. The relatively modern buildings have been replaced with old French colonial-Chinese buildings. We have entered the Old Quarter of Hoi An, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

More Lanterns

Beside the river we saw some old folks on a makeshift junk reciting poetry. I couldn’t really tell what language it was nor can I really be sure that they are really reciting poetry. However, I have a feeling that this was more for the tourist trade more than anything else. It was free though. It was good though that old traditions like this are still being practices, even if they were more for show rather than really keeping with traditions.

Colorful Lanterns for Sale

The streets of the Old Quarter of Hoi An were fairly dark. The streets, however were illuminated by the lamps being sold in the old shophouses that line the streets of the Old Quarter. Lamps and lanterns of all shapes and sizes shine brightly and really give a beautiful glow. These are more like handicrafts being sold rather than for real use. The lamps were powered by batteries, so much for being traditional.

Statues for Sale

Also along the streets are carvings being sold. The ones on the street were not particularly impressive but it is still an interesting look. The statues being sold vary from Buddha, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, from pots to Christmas Trees. As usual, I think this was all for the tourist trade. I didn’t bother buying any of them, I just took a few snaps before we headed off to dinner.

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The Citadel

We stepped outside the Ngoc Mai Hotel wondering how to get to the Hue’s UNESCO World Heritage sites. Our guides still haven’t arrived yet. Fortunately, there were some locals with motorcycles asking us whether we wanted to go there. Of course we agreed. The ride took around 15 minutes from the hotel to the main square where the temple complex is. There is a lot of activity in the area and a lot of tourists too. But most of the tourists were Vietnamese. There were a handful of Caucasians too but not a lot.

Inside the Royal Palace

We are currently at the Imperial Citadel Đại Nội, one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Hue. This is a palace/temple complex built by the Nguyen Dynasty as recently as two hundred years ago. Actually that was quite surprising, as I wasn’t expecting these temples to be built so recently. Unlike the temples of maybe China whose temples, have existed for a millennia or two. Regardless, the temples of Hue have that unmistakable Chinese feel, signs that China had such a huge influence in the history and culture of Vietnam. If one were to transport the temple to somewhere in China, it would look totally at home.

Fixing up the Lanterns

After paying the entrance fee, we entered the palace grounds. This place used to be the seat of power when Hue was the capital of Vietnam at that time. The Nguyen emperors had these temples built for their use. It was also during this time that Hue because the academic and cultural capital of Vietnam. The palace is surrounded by a moat, still with water, and with a carpet of water lilies covering it. The water lilies made the otherwise boring moat come to life with color.

Citadel at Dusk

The Ngọ Môn gate at the entrance was a beautiful sight. It has all the markings of Chinese design complete with Chinese characters. One could actually climb up and walk to it and get a good view of the surrounding area. There are huge drums on top presumably for defense. The central door of the gate and the bridge crossing the moat is reserved exclusively for the emperor.

Lights On for the Festival

Further in the complex is the royal palace Thái Hòa itself. As expected it is truly magnificent in its design. Even the columns are exquisitely carved with dragons. Little wonder why Hue became the cultural capital of Vietnam for a while. I found it amazing to see that the palace was so well preserved considering that Vietnam was in civil war just a couple of decades ago. The people have done a great job preserving such as precious treasure. The palace is where the emperors would hold court and receive foreign dignitaries.

Behind the palace is an area full of red lanterns. I was curious as to what the purpose of those lanterns were, when we were informed that these were a actually fireworks for the night’s festival. Actually, there are a couple of buildings in a state disrepair. It seems they were destroyed in the civil war.

There were more and more people coming in the Citadel and were gathering in the open area. In another part of the complex were some performances showing traditional dances. I wasn’t really interested in them we hung around for a while to see if something will happen.

Huge Bell

By this time, the sun had already set and the palace was all lit up. The temple now looked even more impressive with the lights turned on. Combine that with the slowly darkening sky and the water of the moat, it really makes for a beautiful scene.

Outside the Citadel, was also another performance area, this is more like a concert more than anything else. Not wanting to lose myself in the huge crowd gathered at the performance area we decided to go back to the hotel.

For you readers, it may be interesting to see how big the complex actually was if you look at the map and zoom back a little bit. Only after seeing the scale of how big the imperial citadel was can one truly admire their skill in building this icon of Hue.

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Mid-Autumn Festival Full Moon

It’s that time of the year again, when the moon is round and people exchange mooncakes. It’s Mid-autumn Festival! Some call it the Mooncake Festival. Mid-autumn festival is celebrated by Chinese communities across the world. Singapore, having a very significant Chinese population, is not exception. This year, hotels and malls all celebrate this festival by decorating for the occasion and, of course, selling mooncakes!

Pagoda Lantern by the Singapore River

Mid-autumn festival, as the name implies, marks the middle of the autumn season. It falls on the 15 day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar. Like the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year, it is also a significant holiday in countries with significant Chinese populations. In fact, it is a public holiday in China and Hong Kong. Traditionally, it marks the end of the harvest season, where family members will gather and admire the full moon, which is supposedly at its roundest. Afterwhich, they would eat, what else, mooncakes 月饼!

Too Cheapskate to Buy My Own Mooncake

These days mooncakes come in all shapes and sizes, the most common ones are the traditional ones. These little cakes are baked with a filling of lotus paste or bean paste. For variety, salted duck egg yolk are added to the mix, giving the mooncake a delicious flavour. Not content with just one egg yolk, these days, two and four egg yolks are quite common. It is also amazing to see how much these moon cakes increase in price relative to the number of yolks they have. Quite frankly, it is insane people would buy them at that kind of price. How much does a yolk actually cost?! Then again, it is a holiday, people don’t seem to mind to splurge a little bit this time of the year.

Champagne Truffle Snowskin Mooncake from Raffles Hotel

Even fancier mooncakes are the snow skin mooncakes 冰皮月饼. As the name implies, these babies are chilled, not baked, and are filled with practically anything these days. One of the pioneers is Raffles Hotel with their champagne truffle snow skin mooncake. Followed by the rest of the world. Actually, if it weren’t for the design on the mooncake, I wouldn’t call them mooncake at all! Personally though, I would still prefer the traditional one, with yolk, of course!

Chinese Legend says that Chang-e 嫦娥 flew to the moon after taking an immortality pill. While everyone knows that there is a rabbit on the moon. Chang-e actually met the rabbit on the moon. During the Mid-Autumn Festival Change-e and her husband Houyi 后羿 (a famous archer said to have shot down nine suns) meet after their year long separation. I don’t think they eat mooncakes to celebrate though. Anyway, while the west refers to the man on the moon, the Chinese refer have their woman on the moon.

A more realistic story is that mooncakes were used by the Ming 明 rebels to overthrow their Yuan 元 rulers. They hid messages in the mooncakes to communicate with everyone else. I guess this is how things work before the Internet. Obviously the mooncake is deeply entrenched in Chinese culture. And this tradition is already being exported out to the rest of the world. Just like the west loves to give gifts during Christmas, the Chinese give mooncakes to the people they care about.

Lanterns Along the Singapore River

In Singapore, malls and tourist spots and decorated with Mid-Autumn festival decorations with lanterns along the Singapore River, it does make a pretty sight. The lanterns here are figures made to resemble characters from the stories about Mid-Autumn Festival like Chang-e and Houyi. There is also a lantern pagoda. Literally a latern shaped like a pagoda. Beside it are laterns of the animals of the Chinese zodiac.

The streets are very bright these days. However, it will be over soon. And I’m already sick of eating mooncakes (already had one while writing this post). Well, might as well enjoy it while it lasts. Just let me go get another slice.

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