Thanh Toan Tile-Roofed Bridge

A rare 18th-century covered footbridge with a tiled roof and wooden benches, built in 1776 by a merchant's wife and still the heart of a rice-farming village seven kilometres east of Hue.

The tile-roofed bridge at Thanh Toan was built in 1776 with money donated by Tran Thi Dao, the wife of a mandarin, so that villagers could cross the canal and rest in the shade; an altar in the middle of the bridge still honours her, and the village holds a ceremony for her each year. About 17 metres long and divided into seven bays, it is one of only a handful of such wooden covered bridges surviving in Vietnam and has been a national monument since 1990. Benches run along both sides, and at any hour you will find elderly villagers chatting, children playing and vendors selling sweets. Next to the bridge, a small museum of farming tools run by local women shows rice-growing and fishing implements, with demonstrations on request, and the village market opens early each morning. The most rewarding way to arrive is by bicycle through the rice fields from the city, a flat ride of about seven kilometres.