Sen Village (Kim Lien)- Most attraction places in Nghe An - closely connected with childhood of president Ho Chi Minh.

Kim Lien relic area: closely connected with childhood of president Ho Chi Minh. Here memories about childhood of the child Nguyen Sinh Cung as well as relics and his family’s souvenirs are kept. It is located 12 km far from centre of Vinh city toward southwest.

Like other normal rural villages in Vietnam, Sen village is quite tranquil, peaceful and poetic with green bamboo, public well, temple’ ground where festivals or crucial occasions of the village taking place. The village landscape is further adorned by numerous mountains far away that are hidden in vague cloud and blue sky.

Starting from Vinh City along Road 49, and turning at a red earth road lined with shady eucalyptus and "filao" trees, visitors reach Sen village, whose scholarly name is Kim Lien (Golden Lotus).  

There are several lotus ponds along the village roads. The house in which President Ho Chi Minh lived during his childhood was a thatched bamboo and wooden house. In the house there are some pieces of furniture such as a wooden bed, a bamboo bed, a jute hammock and an altar, the same as those used by local farmers. The house was built in 1901 with contributions of labour and funds as present from the villagers to the father of President Ho, Mr Nguyen Sinh Sac, when he won a "Junior Doctor" degree in literature, bringing honour to the whole village.

Chua Village (scholarly name, Hoang Tru): It is the native village of President Ho's mother, about 2 km from Sen Village. Chua Village was where he was born and brought up in his early childhood. The Tomb of Mrs Hoang Thi Loan : Mrs Hoang Thi Loan (1868-1901) was a typical meritorious Vietnamese mother who had brought up her children to be patriotic, including little Nguyen Sinh Cung who later became President Ho Chi Minh. Mrs Hoang Thi Lan was the second daughter of Mr Hoang Duong, Bachelor of Arts, a native to Hoang Tru village, Nam Lien commune, Nam Dan district. She married Nguyen Sinh Sac and gave birth to three children.

In 1895 she and her family moved to the royal capital of Hue and made a living for the whole family while Mr Sac was busy preparing for an academic degree. She died of fatal disease in Hue in 1901. Also in that year, her husband achieved his scholar degree. In 1922, Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh, President Ho's older sister, moved their mother's tomb to the back yard of their house in Sen village.

Knowing that his brother was revolutionary leader Nguyen Ai Quoc, Mr Nguyen Sinh Khiem, the eldest brother of President Ho, secretly moved the tomb of Mrs Hoang Thi Loan to Dong Tranh mountain in 1942 to avoid possible revenge from the authorities. On the occasion of the 95th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh in 1985, the people of Nghe An rebuilt the tomb of Mrs Hoang Thi Loan. There are some 300 steps of granite from the foot of the mountain leading to the tomb. The ferroconcrete roof of the tomb stylizes a handloom because when alive President Ho's mother gained her family's living by weaving cloth.

Sen village was recognised as one of the national cultural historical relics by the Ministry of Culture and Information (now the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) in 1979.

How to get there

You can book a tour from Hanoi or Vinh City to visit Sen Village, which usually takes half day. Sen village can be a convenient stop on the way from Hanoi to Hue or vice versa. 

Or could could take a coach in Nuoc Ngam bus station to Vinh city (of Nghe An provice), then take a motobike taxi or taxi around 12- 15 km. It cost around 220.000 VND from Hanoi to Vinh

Culture Discovery 

Folksongs of Nghe Land: Hat do dua (Barcarolle), hat vi dam (World Culture Heritage by UNESCO), hat Phuong vai, hat ru (lullaby)

Culture of foods: Vinh eel rice soup (chao luon Vinh), Tuong Nam Dan (Soya sauce), Nghi Loc salted egplants, Nhut Thanh Chuong ( Salad of salted bits of jack fruit), Dien Chau fish-sauce, Xa Doai orange, Thanh Chuong batata.

Some typical trade villages in Nghe An:

• Xuan Nha ivory Bamboo/ Neohouzeaua knitting village in Hung Nguyen district
• Nho Lam forge village - Dien Chau
• Stone carving village at Dien Binh – Dien Chau
• Earthen pot village at Tru Son - Do Luong
• Bamboo and rattan village in  Nghi Loc

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