Bac Ninh

Lying about 35 km Northeast of Hanoi, Bac Ninh is by and large an underrated destination in most travel guide book. The smallest yet most populated province in Vietnam, Bac Ninh is rich in history, tradition and culture.

For the two thousand years in existence, Bac Ninh is vivid in Vietnamese mind as a land of the talents: there were times that the province contributed as much as 25% of people with doctorate degree in Vietnam. The talent is not only shown academically but also artistically. Bac Ninh is where, without doubt, concentrates the highest density of handicraft villages in Vietnam. These include Dong Ho woodcut painting village, Đồng Kỵ wood and carving village, Phu Lang pottery village. Besides handicraft villages, Bac Ninh also has a variety of temples and pagodas, many of which are considered the craddle of Budhism in Vietnam.

Bac Ninh town has almost every modern life facility one can ask for. However, surrounding districts are more rural-based with more than half of the population working on the farm. Due to its almost absence from visitors’ attention, much of Bac Ninh remains untouched and unstaged like other popular destinations found elsewhere in the world.