 The night tour of Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (the Temple of Literature) is open from 19:20 to 22:30 on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays (Photo: qdnd.vn) |
The night tour is open from 19:20 to 22:30 on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Other night tours are offered at the Hoa Lo Prison relic, the Thang Long Imperial Citadel relic, and the Vietnam Museum of Literature.
The Temple of Literature Temple of Literature tour start at the Great Portico (Khu Nhap Dao) with a sound and light show that uses 3D mapping and folk music to recount the history of Vietnamese culture and education.
Visitors to the tour shared: "I was impressed with the image of a young boy studying. Then came a story about the boy growing up.
I’ve been to the Temple of Literature several times during the day. This is the first time I’ve been here at night, which is a very different experience of light and sound."
 After the main gate of the Temple of Literature is a magical space (Photo: qdnd.vn) |
As soon as they step through the main gate of the Temple of Literature, visitors are immersed in a magical space. Khue Van Cac (the Constellation of Literature Pavilion) presents performances of traditional music, Vuon Bia Tien Si (the Laureate Stelae Garden) memorializes the line of scholars who studied here, and Dai Thanh (Great Success)area uses virtual reality (VR) technology to recreate the ancient Temple’s examination hall. This VR technology lets visitors try their hand at writing Chu Nom, a script based on Chinese characters that the ancient scholars used. Stuart Cook, a visitor from the UK, said: “I’ve heard about the Temple. I’m surprised to see the Temple of Literature and then will paint the calligraphy virtually. I learn a lot about the history of the Temple. I’d love to hear the music the muscian is playing”.
The centerpiece of the tour is Thai Hoc Hall and its presentation on the theme of “The essence of education.”
 Visitors experience the night tour using virtual reality system (Photo: qdnd.vn) |
The front of Thai Hoc Hall becomes a giant screen which uses a lighting system and 3D-mapping technology to tell the story of Confucianism and the history of Vietnam’s imperial university. Do Thanh Trung, a resident of Hanoi’s Ba Dinh district, said: "The use of technology is a breakthrough, facilitating the visitor’s experience and honoring the quintessence of Vietnamese education. These new experiences are expected to attract more and more visitors."
The Temple of Literature's night tour delivers a very different experience from the daytime tour. Le Xuan Kieu, Director of the Center for Cultural and Scientific Activities of the Temple of Literature, said: "The mapping technology tells the history of Vietnamese education, highlighting Vietnam’s love of learning, respect for teachers and morality, and appreciation of talent. Using technology makes those values more intangible."