Haiphong

Hai Phong is a major port city in northeastern Vietnam, across from Cat Ba Island. Its leafy boulevards are lined with French colonial–era landmarks such as the neoclassical Opera House and Queen of the Rosary cathedral, dating to the 19th century. Hai Phong is also home to Du Hang Pagoda, an elaborate Buddhist temple, and Hai Phong Museum, which explores the city’s long history.

Haiphong was founded in 1887 as a seaport province by colonists during French colonial rule. In 1888, the president of the French Third Republic, Sadi Carnot, promulgated a decree to establish Haiphong. From 1954 to 1975, Haiphong served as the most important maritime city of North Vietnam, and it became one of direct-controlled municipalities of a reunified Vietnam with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 1976.