Haiphong History

Early history

With its old-time aura, Haiphong feels very Vietnamese compared to the country’s other big conurbations, and appropriately so, because the port city has played a key role in the nation’s tumultuous history. Because of its strategic coastal location, it has witnessed the coming and going of many foreign invaders. The Bach Dang River, on the outskirts of the city, was the site of one of Vietnam's greatest victories against its old foe China when, in 1288, Kublai Khan's 300,000-man army and navy were soundly trumped by the Vietnamese, under the command of Tran Hung Dao.

20th-century conflicts

Six centuries later, the French settled into Haiphong and began turning it into a major industrial and shipping center. Later, following the German occupation of France during World War II, the Japanese muscled in, and began redirecting valuable Vietnamese exports to Japan. Once again in control of the port city after the war, the French bombed Haiphong over a bizarre customs dispute, killing up to 1,000 Vietnamese civilians and precipitating the eight-year war between the Vietminh and the French.

Haiphong figured prominently in the war against the Americans as well and, because of its strategic location on the northeast coast, the city was frequently bombed during the conflict. President Richard Nixon ordered the mining of Haiphong Harbor in May 1972, and during the holiday season that same year, the city suffered particularly devastating attacks, which became known as the Christmas bombings. The following year, as part of the agreement between the U.S. government and Vietnam in the Paris peace talks of 1973, the U.S. Navy was asked to help clear the mines.

Chinese exodus

In 1979, following conflicts between Vietnam and China, as many as 100,000 ethnic Chinese, who had lived for generations in the Haiphong area, piled into barely seaworthy boats and fled from what they expected to be deadly reprisals by their Vietnamese neighbors. In fact, few acts of retribution took place, but the damage had been done. And because the departing Chinese represented a large section of the city's merchant class, Haiphong has struggled to gain back the economic power lost as a result of their departure.

Its history may be littered with contentious incidents, but there’s little sign of disharmony in modern Haiphong, and the most prominent remnant of foreign interlopers is the graceful French architecture that's sprinkled throughout the city center.