China: Playing a Dong Son bronze drum at the Guangxi Provincial Museum, Nanning, Guangxi Province

Đông Sơn was a prehistoric Bronze Age culture in Vietnam centered on the Red River Valley of northern Vietnam. At this time the first Vietnamese kingdoms of Văn Lang and Âu Lạc appeared. Its influence flourished in other neighbouring parts of Southeast Asia from about 500 BCE to 100 CE.

Nanning was originally founded during the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368), although there was a county seat here called Jinxing as far back as 318 CE.

Opened to foreign trade by the Chinese in 1907, Nanning grew rapidly. From 1912 to 1936 it was the provincial capital of Guangxi, replacing Guilin.

Due to its proximity to the Vietnamese border Nanning became a major centre for supplying Ho Chi Minh's North Vietnam during the Second Indochina War (Vietnam War).

Copyright:

CPA Media Co. Ltd.

Photographer:

David Henley

Credit:

Pictures From Asia