Hoang A Tuong Castle – A mansion with oriental and western combined style

Hoang A Tuong castle (also known as Hoang Yen Chao astle) is a unique construction work, which harmonizes the Oriental and Western architectural styles.
Every year when spring comes, the whole district Bac Ha, Lao Cai province, is smothered by a white shirt of plum flowers. Outstanding in the white background stands a mansion complex of Hoang Yen Chao – Hoang A Tuong (father and son) in the greenery of endless forests and mountains. For over 80 past years, this moss-covered Hoang A Tuong mansion has become an attractive destination for domestic as well as overseas visitors.
The mansion was built in 1914 and completed in 1921, its owner is a governor – Hoang Yen Chao, father of Hoang A Tuong. Before 1945, Bac Ha was a semi-feudalist colony.  As lackeys of French colonialist, Hoang A Tuong and his father Hoang Yen Chao cruelly exploited the locals. They were forced to work as servants and slaves and to hand in precious and valuable properties. Enriched, the ruler forced the locals to build his mansion,  directly designed and supervised by French or Chinese architects.

This mansion complex of Hoang A Tuong is a closed in a good harmony of Asian and European architecture, with two staircases leading to sitting-room and a large ground where celebrations or dances took place.
The main mansion is two-storeyed on an area of 420 m2. Doors were built in medieval European styles, different in heights and widths. Each floor is 3-room, the side-rooms were tooken place for family activities, the central room reserved for meeting or receptions.
Interiors or exteriors were beautifully decorated, on both sides were two column-scrolls, featuring best withes and happiness and prosperities. On either sides are subordinated houses, lower than the main one; close to the houses are two smaller and lower houses only for servants or watch-men.
The mansion is surrounded by thick walls with 3-door gates (One main and two-side gates and fox-hole for security watch). Total area of the compound is 4.000 m2. Building materials: steel, cement, bricks… were produced on the spot under direct surveillance of the Chinese or brought from the lowlands. It’s said that the plaster was a mixture of cement and honey that the rulers forced the locals to hand in.
Today, this castle is put under a restoration scheme to better help tourists get insight into the changes of the local life.

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