Old house in the heart of the city

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, there are still hidden old houses, reminiscent of the glorious golden age of a peaceful Dong Hoi by the Nhat Le River. For families, the effort to preserve the old houses left by their ancestors is also a testament to their wholehearted devotion to their roots, preserving the family traditions of their descendants today.

Through the ups and downs of history, the three-room, two-wing house has a hint of time with its black-glossy wooden pillars (there are about 16 pillars compared to 32 pillars before), incense burners... The highlight of the house is the elaborately carved horizontal lacquered boards and parallel sentences "one poem, one painting", ancient embroidered paintings. In particular, the two parallel sentences placed solemnly on both sides of the altar have been there since the Nguyen Dynasty. Right in the middle of the house is a set of elaborate mother-of-pearl inlaid sofas, a testament to the family's "prosperity" in the past, and a set of tables and chairs made of Quang Binh wooden wood that is over 100 years old in the next room.

In the house, there are also 500-700 antiques from his ancestors and collected by him, many of which are hundreds of years old. All of them are considered by Mr. Hai as precious "treasures", cherished and preserved.

He confided that his house alone has nearly 100 flower pot pedestals and an antique fish bowl. In the past, only wealthy families had many flower pot pedestals in their homes. Mr. Phan Xuan Hai shared that in the "whirlwind" of the real estate market, preserving the old house is a long and arduous story, but his mother, now over 90 years old, always tells her son to preserve this old house for the next generation.

For that reason, he and his family always keep in mind that they will make efforts to preserve the house so that future generations can understand how our ancestors lived in the past. He and his wife, Ms. Nguyen Thi Vui, are currently maintaining the Minh Xich fishing village, specializing in selling seafood to tourists.

Located on the banks of Nhat Le River, the ancient house of Mr. Nguyen Quy Dong's family (born in 1962) in Bao Ninh Commune (Dong Hoi City) is hidden behind the bustling restaurants and eateries of a coastal commune that is constantly changing. Perhaps, few people know that inside that small house is a heritage that has lasted nearly 145 years, silently witnessing many changes of the times. In that house, Mr. Dong's mother, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Vo, who turns 94 this year, is still living, as a witness to this precious heritage.

According to Mr. Dong, his grandfather was a Confucian scholar who worked as a teacher, and was very proficient in Chinese and Chinese characters, so he always taught his children about etiquette and family traditions. Through many changes of the times, the house was still preserved intact by him and his family, even though "many people offered to buy it at very high prices". Not only was the original house preserved, many objects in the house were also kept intact, from worship items to daily necessities, especially the horizontal lacquered boards and antique tables and chairs.

Phan Duc Hoa, head of the UNESCO Club for Research and Collection of Quang Binh Antiquities, said that in Dong Hoi City alone, there are currently more than 20 ancient houses that are still almost intact and more than 10 restored ancient houses, mainly brought from other localities. Mr. Hoa's family also bought and restored an ancient house in 2009. Inside the house, many details are still intact along with hundreds of antiques that he collected over the years. These are traditional cultural values that make Mr. Hoa's house an ideal meeting place for those who are passionate about antiques and learning about traditional folk culture.