"Hue in the rain" a Hue Travel Page by mad4travel

Just to set the record straight, Hue is pronounced Whay not Huw as most of my friends seem to pronounce it!

and just as the rest of my trip to Vietnam, Hue was no exception on the pouring of rain stakes, so a lot of my photos have a distinctly gray edge.

Hue is located in central Vietnam on the banks of the Perfume River. It is located in central Vietnam, in the Thua Thien prefecture. It is about 660 km (400 mi.) from Hanoi.

Hue originally rose to prominence as the capital of the Nguyen family, a feudal dynasty which dominated much of (then) southern Vietnam.

In 1802, Emperor Gia Long succeeded in establishing his control over the whole of Vietnam, thereby making Hue the national capital. The Royal palace was modelled on the forbidden city in Bejing and none but royalty were allowed to go there.

It retained this status until 1945, when Emperor Bao Dai abdicated and a Communist government was established in Hanoi

In the Tet Offensive, the city suffered considerable damage as well as the now infamous massacre at Hue. After the war many of the historic features of Hue were neglected, but there has since been a change of policy, and some parts of the historic city have been restored.

In the Vietnam War, Hue's central position placed it very near the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The city was located in the South.

In the early morning hours of January 31, 1968, during the Lunar New Year celebrations, the North Vietnamese Army and National Liberation Front, or Viet Cong, troops simultaneously attacked 70% of the major cities and villages in South Vietnam, including Saigon and Hue.

Commonly referred to as the Tet Offensive, this period of several weeks is generally regarded as a military failure, but a psychological victory for the Northern forces, as this marked a sharp turning point in American sentiment and support for the war effort. While the communist forces saw initial success, their assaults were quickly turned back in all areas except Hue.

During the initial battle, occupation and retaking of Hue, forty percent of the city was destroyed during 26 days of intense combat, and 116,000 of the Hue's 140,000 population were left homeless. The U.S. and South Vietnamese forces claimed over 5000 communist forces were killed within the city, and another 3000 in the immediately surrounding area.

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