Vietnam's Folk History Reflected in Buildings Justin Mott for the International Herald Tribune A worker inspecting a building at Thanh Chuong Viet Palace in Hanoi. Its owner, a local artist named Thanh Chuong, says the collection of buildings is less a palace and more an interactive attraction that honors Vietnam's folk heritage. HANOI - Thanh Chuong Viet Palace, a complex of historic-looking buildings on the outskirts of Vietnam's capital, does not quite fit its royal-sounding title. But then its owner, a local artist named Thanh Chuong, says it is less a palace and more an interactive attraction that honors Vietnam's folk heritage. Nearly all of the dozen or so structures on the one-hectare, or 2.5 acre, site were trucked in from northern Vietnamese provinces by a team of 200 workers. Nearly all of the dozen or so structures on the one-hectare, or 2.5 acre, site were trucked in from northern Vietnamese provinces by a team of 200 workers and hauled to the end of a dusty, potholed road about 10 kilometers, or six miles, from Noi Bai International Airport. Some of the ancient-looking buildings made of gnarled wood and bamboo actually are pastiches, created by Mr. Chuong from vintage materials. And many of the banyan and bodhi trees that dot the site were hoisted into place with cranes. Yet the leafy complex, called Viet Phu Thanh Chuong in Vietnamese, offers an engaging and eccentric introduction to traditional Vietnamese culture and architecture - something like The Cloisters in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art's assemblage of architectural elements from medieval Europe. The palace also is a quirky complement to Hanoi's prominent tourist attractions, like the Temple of Literature, the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum and a mausoleum with the carefully preserved corpse of President Ho Chi Minh. "All Vietnamese are proud of their traditional culture, but we are a nation of natural disasters and wars, and there were times in history when our traditional heritage was eliminated," said Mr. Chuong, 63. I created this place to preserve something for later generations and international friends. The triple-arched brick entrance gate, created by the artist, leads to a pond bisected by a 500-year-old stone bridge and a small theater designed for water puppetry, a traditional Vietnamese folk art. Performances of traditional singing and dancing also are staged occasionally at an indoor theater that seats as many as 80 spectators. Across the pond stands a modified two-tiered stilt house that once belonged to a farmer in the northern province of Hoa Binh. There also is a thatched cottage with earthen walls that Mr. Chuong says is a reproduction of his childhood home in nearby Bac Giang Province, where his family sheltered while Vietnamese forces fought for independence from the French in the early 1950s. And there is a gazebo with a tiled roof and a black wooden sign that says, in ancient Chinese characters, "To Sit Amidst Spring Winds." On a recent spring afternoon, pink and yellow petals fell from flowering truc dao trees as groups of tourists savored a view of the pond and gazebo from the palace restaurant. The loudest noises were the chirping of birds, buzzing of insects and, occasionally, the sound of a plane flying overhead. Mr. Chuong, who is part of a family of well-known intellectuals, sipped tea on a nearby veranda and reminisced about his days as a bomb-disposal specialist for the northern Communists during the Vietnam War. He later worked as an illustrator for the state-controlled newspaper Van Nghe, or Literature and Arts. In 2001, he acquired a 50-year lease on the palace property and spent three years transforming it from a bare hillside, opening it unofficially to visitors. He had no blueprint, instead just following his creative instincts. And while he couldn't include art or artifacts from all of Vietnam's 54 recognized ethnic groups, he said that he hopes the complex helps Vietnamese visitors to better understand their collective national identity. "We don't have a Great Wall of China or elaborate European palaces," he said. A traditional Vietnamese living space is one where you feel that the sky, earth, animals and trees exist in perfect harmony. Mr. Chuong covered his early costs by selling artwork; the Hanoi Daewoo Hotel was a particular patron. A few of the buildings include commanding displays of Mr. Chuong's Picasso-like, refrigerator-size self-portraits. Suzanne Lecht, who exhibited Mr. Chuong's paintings in Hong Kong and is art director of a gallery in Hanoi, said a good phrase to describe the compound is an "artistic theme park." Some critical Hanoians have called it a "fiefdom." And Nora Annesley Taylor, a professor of South and Southeast Asian art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who visited Mr. Chuong's palace in 2004, said it is impressive but "an ostentatious display of wealth and social status." In its brochure, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung is quoted as saying the palace is a "truly precious project." The Vietnamese government made it an official tour stop during Hanoi's 1000-year anniversary celebrations in 2010. Mr. Chuong applied for that distinction but he says he has not advertised the attraction by other means. "In Vietnamese we have an expression: A fragrant flower will make its presence known," he said. How to get there Thanh Chuong Viet Palace (+84 903 297669; thanhchuongartist.com.vn) is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except Monday and for about three weeks around the Lunar New Year. Entry is 100,000 Vietnam dong, or $4.80; a set lunch of Vietnamese food, $9. A one-way taxi ride from central Hanoi will take about one hour, longer in traffic. The round-trip fare is about $50. There is no convenient public transportation.