Nom Village

Lang Nom in Hung Yen is the standard picture of a Red River delta village and one of the few that still looks like it: a brick gate on the road in, a large pond with banyan trees around it, a communal house, and a stone bridge of nine arches crossing the Nguyet Duc stream, built in the eighteenth century with carved dragon heads on the parapet. The Nom pagoda holds a set of over a hundred terracotta figures, some of them several centuries old, which survived floods that destroyed much else. The village prospered on the bronze trade and the merchants' houses date from that.

The main sights

• A nine-arch stone bridge - eighteenth century, with carved dragon heads.
• Gate, pond and banyans - the delta village plan intact.
• Over a hundred terracotta figures - in the pagoda, some centuries old.
• Merchants' houses - built on the bronze trade.

When to go

Year round. Half a day.

What to expect

It is close to Hanoi and gets weekend visitors and photo shoots. Interpretation is in Vietnamese. The pagoda opens on its own schedule. Modern building has appeared around the old core.

Nearby

Pho Hien is south in Hung Yen; Hanoi is west.