Perfume River
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Edited first two paragraphs for style.
[[Image:Riviere des Parfums Hue.jpg|thumb|320px|right|Hương River in [[Huế]].]]
[[Image:Coucher de soleil Huế.jpg|thumb|320px|right|a scenic landscape of Hương river in [[Huế]].]]
The '''Perfume River''' ([[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]: Sông Hương or Hương Giang; [[Hán tự|Hán nôm]]: 香江) is a river that crosses the capital city of [[Hue City|Huế]], in the central [[Vietnam]]ese province of [[Thua Thien-Hue Province|Thừa Thiên Huế]].
== Origin of Name ==
In the autumn, [[flowers]] from [[orchards]] upriver from [[Huế]] fall into the water, giving the river a perfume-like aroma.
== Source and flow ==
The Perfume River has two sources, both of which begin in the [[Annamite Range|Dãy Trường Sơn]] mountain range and meet at Bang Lang Fork. The Ta Trach (Left Tributary) originates in the Truong Dong mountains and flows northwest towards Bang Lang Fork. The shorter Huu Trach (Right Tributary) flows past the Tuan ferry landing towards Bang Lang Fork.
The river then flows in south-north direction past the temples of [[Hon Chen]] and [[Ngoc Tran]] and then turns north-west, meandering through the [[Nguyet Bieu]] and [[Luong Quan]] plains. Continuing on, the '''Huong River''' then flows to the north-east to [[Huế]] city, only an echo of [[Truong Son]] mountain, and passes the resting place of [[Nguyen]] emperors. The river of green water continues its itinerary, passing [[Hen Islet]] and various villages, crossing the [[Sinh junction]], which is known as the capital of ancient [[Chau Hoa]], before emptying into the [[Tam Giang]] Lagoon.
From Bang Lang to Thuan An estuary, the Perfume River is 30 km long and runs very slowly (as the river level is not much above sea level). The Perfume River darkens as it winds along the foot of Ngoc Tran Mountain - home of the Jade Cup Temple - where there is a very deep abyss.
The river snakes through the villages of Kim Long, Nguyet Bieu, Vy Da, Dong Ba, Gia Hoi, the Dinh market, Nam Pho, Bao Vinh, and through Huế.
== Life around the river ==
The locals who live beside the river in [[Huế]] are often very poor and wash their clothes and bathe in the polluted water. Also, they earn money by [[dredging]] the river bed for [[sand]]. This sand is collected and then sold to [[cement]] manufacturers for a tiny price.
== Surrounding area ==
The 105m [[Ngu Binh|Ngu Binh Mountain]] has a striking and symmetric figure. On both sides of the Even Mount (Bang Son) are 2 small mounts called Ta Bat Son (Left Mount) and Huu Bat Son (Right Mount). After observing that Bang Son resembled a screen, the [[Nguyen Dynasty|Nguyễn Dynasty]] decided to build up Huế which became known as their "Forbidden Purple City." Emperor [[Gia Long]] approved the design of [[geomancer]]s which chose this mount as a front altar of the imposing and solid defending wall system, and renamed it Ngu Binh.
==External links==
{{commonscat|Perfume River}}
[[Category:Rivers of Vietnam]]
[[Category:Thua Thien-Hue Province]]
[[de:Parfüm-Fluss]]
[[fr:Rivière des Parfums]]
[[no:Parfymeelven]]
[[pt:Rio Perfume]]
[[th:แม่น้ำหอม]]
[[vi:Sông Hương]]
[[zh:香江 (越南)]]