Hue is surrounded by ancient villages, where the main occupation is agriculture. The village traditions have been very much oriented around the wet rice culture calendar. One among those is the sampan race. From village wide, the races are held twice a year, during Spring and Autumn Ceremony, when the harvest is done and time to celebrate and pay tribute to the village founders. Every village has a team, selected from the best men during the village competition. They will then compete with other village’s team for the city annual championship, to celebrate the important event, like the National Day, September 2.
The boat races on Huong River
Early morning, sampaniers and villagers travel along the River to gather as a floating stadium, to support their men. There are also small sampans selling refreshment. A festive feeling is overwhelming the quiet Perfume River.
There are two types of racing boats, the wooden colorful sampans, and the long dragon-headed ones. The village’s name is painted on the sampan.
The captain will line up on the River bank. Hearing the whistle, they will run as fast as they can to hand over the row and the games is kicked off. The race will count on 3 rounds “Vè”, of 700-800m, namely three levels Upper “Thượng”, Middle “Trung”, Lower “Hạ”, representing for Heaven – Mandkind – Earth. They raced around the river section in front of the Royal Flag Tower, in the shout and laughes of all supporters and the racers themselves. What’s a lively scene!
Through generations, this annual boat race has become an expected event for all the villagers and visitors to Hue alike. It is a chance to reinforce friendship between villages, strengthen social cohesion and wake up the community pride. A photograph taken by French a century ago shows the same atmosphere as today. Modernity has changed a lot of things but in Hue, traditions are still well kept. The award for winning team always contains a tray of betel and areca, a bottle of rice wine and to be given to the village senior with a best wishes for peace and great rice crop.
Note: Travelers on Thanh Toàn rural immersion with Slow Travel Hue can also experience a fun sampan race.
