Between the seventh and 10th centuries , the people of Champa controlled the strategic spice trade , creating tremendous wealth which was used to build ancient cities in cantral VIET NAM .
The early history of HOI AN ( sourth of the port of DA NANG ) , is that of the cham , austronisean - speaking people who created the champa empiice an occupuied most of what ís now central and lower viet nam , from hue to da nang to nha trang . in the early year , my son was the spiritual capital , tra kieu was the pilitical capital and hoi an was commercial capital of the champa empire , later by the 14th century , the champa moved furthe sourth towards nha trang . the river system was used for the transport of good between the highlands , inland countries of laos and thai lan , and the lower lands .
Old town hoi an , the city ís historic dicstrict , is an exeptionally well- preseved sourtheast asian trading port dating prom 15th to the 19th century , it is buildings and street plan reflecting a blend of indigenous of foreign influenes . prominent in the citys old town is íts covered ' japanese bright ' , dating to the 16th century . HOI AN has a population of 120,000 and is a UNESSCO Wold heritage site. together with the cu lao Cham archipelago , it is part of th cu lao cham _ hoi an biosphere reserve.
North of the port of da nang is the ancient city of hue . the oldest ruinsin hue are from the kingdom . dating to the 4th century ad . the ruins its capital , the ancient city of kandarpapura ( the city where sival burnt kama ) , is there kilometer to the west of hue . during the reign of kandarpadhama ( 629_640 ) kandarpapura was extended and named after the king. annother champa ruin in the reign , the ancient city of hoa chau , dates back to the 9th century .
The thien mu temple ( temple of the celestial lady ) is a historic temple build in 1601 on the order of the firt nguyen lord . who at that time was the governor of thuan hoa ( hue ) . its conic seven _ story phuoc duyen pagoda is the unofficial symbol of hue . nguyen lords were nominally officicial of the ruling le dynassty in ha noi , but were de facto rulers of central viet nam . Accoding to royal records a nguyen lord was told a local legend in which and old lady , know a thien mu , dressed in red and blue , sat at the site , rubbing her cheeks . she foretold th a lord would come and erect a pagoda on the hill to pray ffor the countrys prosperity . she then vanished after making her prophecy . upon hearing this legend , hoang ordered the contruction of the temple at the site , the thien mu pagoda .
in 1802 nguyen phuc anh ( later of emperor gia long ) astablished whole of viet nam , made hue the national capital , and built the imperial city , a walled anclosure within the citadel of the city of hue . in contains the palaces that houses the imperial family , as well as shrines , gardens , and villas for mandarins .
During the french conlonial periol , hue remanied the seat of the imperial palace until 1945 , when emperor bao dai abdicated and the demorcatic republic of viet nam ( DRV) government was established with its capital at ha noi , in the north .
in 1949 bao dai was proclaimed '' head of the state of viet nam '' with the hepl of the returning french colonialists ( but not by the communists of viet namese people ) , his new capital being sai gon , in the south .
Hue was the battleground for the battle of hue , one of the longest and bloodiest battled of the viet nam war . hue is close to the border between the north and south , and was extremely vulnerable in the viet na war . in the tet offensive of 1968 , during the battle of hue , the city suffered devastating damage to its ancient physical features , from massive american military bombing of historic buildings held by the north vietnamese , as well at the massacre at hue .
Since the american war is conclusion in 1975 , many of the historic features of hue have been restored, and the city is a centre for tourism nd transportation in central viet nam .
The cuisine of hue from the heard of central vietnamese cuisine in cluding prominent vegetariansm with all _ vegetarian restaurant scattered through the city to serve locals who have a strong tradition of eating a vegetarin meal twice a month , part of thier buddhist beliefs . another feature of hue disher is the relatively small serving size , with zefined presentation .... 
Dịch
