Decoding a soaring dragon

More to expect

There have been many seeking closer ties between Thang Long and its counterparts in China. Last September, the Thang Long Heritage Conservation Center reached an agreement of cooperation with the Beijing Municipal Administration Center of Parks, which oversees World Heritage Sites like the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven.

A monthlong photo exhibition on the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, Van Mieu and other key heritage sites across the Vietnamese capital kicked off in May at the Summer Palace. Another photo exhibition on Beijing sites will be staged in Thang Long later this year.

According to Nguyen Hong Chi, deputy director of the Thang Long Heritage Conservation Center, a key project is to restore the historical appearance of the central sector of the imperial citadel, including Kinh Thien Palace.

"Archaeology will strengthen people's understanding of the historical, cultural and scientific values of this heritage site," she said at a forum in Beijing, following the opening of the photo exhibition. "That will also give people a more complete visiting experience."

Chinese archaeologists like Wu thus expect to contribute their ideas and references to this historic program.

"We'd like to gain more experiences from Beijing to improve related infrastructure protecting those heritage sites," says Nguyen Quang Ngoc, vice-chairman of the Vietnam Association of Historical Sciences.

"Thang Long is more than those architectural foundations," he adds. "Scholars from the Palace Museum, the Summer Palace and the Temple of Heaven may provide us support to resume the historical landscape and thus revitalize the grandeur of the imperial citadel and better tell its stories to the world."