Bach Dang River Ho Chi Minh City

Bach Dang River Ho Chi Minh City

The Bach Dang River in North Vietnam has played a big role throughout the history of Vietnam.

During high tide, the Bach Dang river swells up, and the passage from the river to the sea spill over with water. When the tide falls, the water subsides, and the mouth of the river is visible again.

In 938, a barbaric tribe of invaders from the northern land of Nam Han were planning on taking over the Van Xuan region of Vietnam. The famous General Ngo Quyen decided on a cunning plan to win the battle. He instructed his soldiers to construct wooden sticks with sharp metal points. At low tide when the waters were shallow, the soldiers planted these sticks into the Bach Dang river-bed with the metal pointing to the top.

When the tide was high and the river had risen high enough to cover the tops of the sticks, General Ngo Quyen engaged the enemy in a battle on the seas. As the tide began to turn he lured the enemy to the mouth of the river. Cannily the General withdrew his troops before the tide turned too low but as the water level continued to fall and the invader’s ships mover forward they were torn to bits by the sharp wooden sticks that had then exposed been exposed in the low tide. Thus enemy was defeated, and the Viet people won their freedom.

This fascinating bit of history has been etched on to history of Vietnam for posterity. The story is so popular that there our numerous hotels, restaurants and other tourist attractions named after this river.

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