Truong Tien Bridge

Truong Tien was built between 1897 and 1899 across the Perfume River at Hue, six spans of steel truss on stone piers, and it has been rebuilt more than once - a typhoon took spans down in 1904, and it was broken again in the fighting of the twentieth century, with the current structure repaired and widened in the 1990s. It is the bridge in the songs and poems about Hue, and the phrase about its six spans is a fixed expression. It is lit at night in changing colours, which locals are divided about, and it carries traffic, bicycles and a very large number of people walking in the evening.

What you actually see

• Six steel truss spans - built between 1897 and 1899.
• Rebuilt more than once - after a typhoon and later damage.
• The bridge of Hue's songs - a fixed image in Vietnamese verse.
• Colour lighting at night - which divides local opinion.

When to go

Year round; evenings for the lighting and the crowds. An hour.

Honest expectations

It is a working road bridge with traffic and the walkways are narrow. The lighting is bright and gaudy, deliberately. There is little to do beyond crossing it and looking.

Nearby

The citadel is on the northern bank; Dong Ba market is upstream.