A photo of Ha Long Bay in Quang Yen Province (now Quang Ninh Province) in 1928.
Albert Sarraut, former Governor-General of French Indochina, said: "Ha Long Bay is beautiful during the day and its caves are beautiful at night when the moonlight illuminates the entire magnificent cave to create a fairy-like scene for visitors.”
The online exhibition ‘Dong Duong: Xu So Dieu Ky’ (Indochina: A Wonderland), is organized by the State Records and Archives Management Department of Vietnam. It was displayed on the National Archives Center No. 1’s website and Facebook page earlier this month.
A buffalo fighting festival at Do Son beach in the eponymous district in the northern city of Hai Phong.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has listed buffalo fighting as a national festival and intangible cultural heritage.
Old documents describe Do Son as a small peninsula with undulating hills and mountains that stretch all the way to the sea between Cua Cam and Cua Van Uc. Villas were interspersed among the pine forests, situated gracefully on the slopes or along the coast. They say the seven-kilometer-long, narrow, zigzag peninsula is divided into several regions by rocky outcrops.
Do Son's female palanquin bearers carry Western men and women. The palanquins, rattan chairs placed between two long wooden beams, were borne by men in most places. In Do Son, many women picked up this work.
An aerial view of Hanoi, including the Cua Bac Church, West Lake, and the Red River, in 1951.
"I am very happy to be able to see many beautiful sights in Hanoi such as lotus leaves floating on the water on the West Lake and a small carved pagoda pop up like a lovely piece of jewelry on Sword Lake,” Sarraut wrote.
The Thuy Ta restaurant on Sword Lake in Hanoi.
In 1935, Hanoi Governor Virgitti proposed building a tea and coffee shop with architecture appropriate for the scene of Sword Lake at the time. The city council then invited bids for the construction and operation of this project. The work was completed on December 30, 1936. The restaurant boasted distinctively Asian architecture, with a curved roof and a round pillar system. The structure, more than 50 m long and 600-square-meter in size, blended with the lake’s bend.
A group of foreign cyclists rest on their way to Ba Vi mountain.
From the 1930s to the 1940s, the French intended this location to become a large-scale resort. G.Tucat, a French Ambassador, once said: "The Ba Vi resort is situated on windy round peaks that are not shrouded in fog. The effects of altitude are not felt here, and the temperature drops significantly at night, making it easier to fall asleep."
Fishermen drag their nets in at Sam Son beach in Thanh Hoa Province. An Indochina Economic Authority Newsletter notes: "Sam Son beach is located 16 kilometers from Thanh Hoa Town and is nestled among casuarina groves about a kilometer from the sea. Many houses and a small hotel have sprouted along the beach, where many families from Tonkin and North Central Vietnam spend their summers."
The Chua Cau (Pagoda Bridge) in ancient town of Hoi An with people in traditional attires including conical hats.
Because the bridge was built by Japanese merchants around the middle of the 16th century, it was referred by locals as the Japanese bridge. A pagoda was added in 1653, and thus giving bridge its nickname Chua Cau.
Lord Nguyen Phuc Chu visited Hoi An in 1719 and named the bridge "Lai Vien Kieu," which means "The bridge welcomes visitors from afar."
The bridge was rebuilt in 1817, according to the date inscribed on the roof beam and inscription still visible at the top of the bridge.
An aerial view from above of Saigon - Cho Lon, a city established in the 19th century and merged into neighboring Saigon in 1931.
"Right in the middle of the city is an endless garden decorated with luxuriant and green trees. This is a beautiful and vibrant city with houses covered in white paint, palatial mansions, churches, hospitals, schools, theaters, bustling piers, busy canals of boats, streets buzzing with the sounds of industrial and commercial life,” Sarraut wrote.
The Saigon Central Post Office was built by the French between 1886 and 1891 with European and Asian architectural elements based on the drawings of architect Villedieu and his assistant Foulhoux.
A beach in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province circa 1950, with horse carriages, a couple of stalls, and people standing around them.
The Indochina Economic Agency records: "The beach looks out over a large bay called Hang Dua Bay, which is surrounded by two hills. When summer arrives, the monsoon brings cool air into the bay."
