An Bang Cemetery, Hue’s City of Ghosts: What You Are Really Looking At

An Bang Cemetery, the City of Ghosts, is the burial ground of a fishing village 31 km from central Hue, where families have built ornate tombs in ceramic mosaic since the early 1990s, paid for mainly by relatives living abroad. There is no gate and no fee. Thirty minutes is the minimum; an hour lets you look properly without rushing.

Our own timings come from taking guests there most weeks, 45 minutes from Chan May port on our Hue countryside shore excursion.

What is An Bang cemetery, and why is it called the City of Ghosts?

It is the cemetery of An Bang, a fishing village on the coast between Hue and Hoi An. Since the early 1990s the families of the village have built ornate tombs there, paid for mainly by relatives living abroad, many of them in the United States. In Hue people call it the village cemetery; the English name came with visitors.

Locally it is simply nghĩa địa An Bằng — the An Bang village cemetery, named after its village, as every Vietnamese cemetery is. The English name took hold in Hue’s early tourism years: a translation meant to startle, when the place is only a cemetery.

The village is older than its tombs. As the village tells it, its people trace their origin to Thanh Hoa, settling on this coast with the Nguyen lords, and it was first called An Doi. Under Lord Nguyen Phuc Thai (1687–1691) it became An Bang: An Doi carried the given name of the lord’s mother, Lady Tong Thi Doi, and a ruler’s family name was taboo.

Before 1990 the cemetery looked like any other in Vietnam: plain and modest. The obligation was already there — building a tomb is how the living repay their ancestors — but the money was not, until the country opened after 1990 and remittances began reaching home. One clan built a tomb finished in ceramic mosaic; the clans who saw it wanted the same, and what followed was closer to a race than a fashion.

Where is An Bang cemetery, and how do you get there from Hue?

An Bang is 31 km from central Hue, about 45 minutes by car, on the coast between Hue and Hoi An. There is no gate, no ticket office and no closing time. The pin you want is the village cemetery — find it on Google Maps — and not An Bang beach, which is a different place, in Hoi An.

You get there by private car, taxi or Grab. Whichever you take, settle three things with the driver before you leave Hue: the fare for the round trip rather than one way, how long they will wait, and where they will wait. There is no Grab or taxi to be picked up at the cemetery, so the car that brings you is the car that takes you back. From Chan May port it is 45 minutes, where our countryside day begins.

An Bang at a glance (as of 2026)

Location	An Bang village, Phu Vinh commune, Hue (formerly Vinh An commune, Phu Vang district)
On the map	Nghĩa địa An Bằng — not An Bang beach, which is in Hoi An
From central Hue	31 km, about 45 minutes by car
From Chan May port	About 45 minutes by car
Getting back	No Grab or taxi at the cemetery — keep your driver and agree the wait
Entry	No ticket, no fee
Opening	No gate and no closing time; visit in daylight
Time needed	30 minutes at a minimum; allow an hour for the decoration
Ground	Flat sandy lanes, little shade; a hat is advised
Weather to aim for	A clear, bright day
Pairs with	Thanh Toan bridge, about 40 minutes on
Rain season	October to December is Hue’s rain season

What are you actually looking at in An Bang?

You are looking at family tombs — burial places — not houses for the dead. This matters, because much of what is written about An Bang describes rooms that are not there. There is no kitchen in this cemetery. The only ritual fitting here is a place to stand incense.

Vietnamese families distinguish two buildings, and only one is here. A lăng is where the dead are buried. A nhà thờ họ, the clan’s ancestral house, is where the annual memorial rites are held, and it stands inside the village among the living, not out here on the sand. I explain that at every tomb: the site only makes sense once you stop picturing rooms in use.

What I point out first is the decoration. It dates from about 1990 onwards, made by craftsmen brought in for the job who worked both trades: they laid the mortar, then decorated it. The earlier method was nề hoạ — painting onto the lime mortar once it had dried. Later, as families could afford more, the painting gave way to broken ceramic, porcelain and coloured glass, set in whatever the household could obtain — which is why the tombs vary so much from one another.

This is the same family of materials you will see on the royal tombs, and I would stop the comparison there: at the tomb of Khai Dinh the mosaic was court work held to a standard, and it is far earlier.

How do you visit An Bang respectfully?

Every tomb belongs to a family that still uses it, and on most visits you will meet villagers among the tombs — pulling weeds, sweeping, retouching decoration. That is ordinary maintenance rather than a ceremony you have walked into, and in normal circumstances visitors are not in the way.

Keep your voice low, as you would in a cemetery anywhere. Do not climb on a tomb, and cover shoulders and knees. Ask before photographing anyone close up, and do not photograph a rite in progress. If a funeral or a memorial service is under way, leave that part of the cemetery and come back later. Do not fly a drone here without the family’s agreement.

No day of the month is off limits to visitors, and no season when the village would rather you stayed away. Come in daylight.

Is An Bang cemetery worth visiting, and how long do you need?

Yes — and allow an hour. Thirty minutes covers the walk and a close look at two or three tombs; an hour lets you look at the decoration properly, which is the reason to come. Most people manage it comfortably, but the ground is the thing to check first.

What I watch for is the moment a guest stops at the edge of the site. The reaction is surprise, in two parts: first at how unlike one another the tombs are, given that one village built them all, and then at the size of a single one.

Two things to know first. The lanes are flat, with no steps, but the surface is loose sand rather than paving and there is little shade — hard work for a wheelchair, and slow going for anyone unsteady on their feet. Bring a hat, and aim for a clear, bright day.

How does An Bang fit into a day from Hue or a cruise ship?

If you are driving between Hue and Hoi An, An Bang sits on the coast along the way — a stop rather than a detour. Nothing needs booking to see it: there is no ticket office, and a car with a driver for a few hours is enough. Allow an hour here; Thanh Toan bridge is 40 minutes further on. From a ship at Chan May it is 45 minutes from the port, and it works at the start of a tight day for the same reason. Our Hue countryside shore excursion opens there, and a whole Hue day from the port is set out hour by hour from Chan May.

Frequently asked questions

If you would like to see it the way we show it, An Bang opens our Hue countryside shore excursion.

This article is part of our guide to whether Hue is worth visiting.

Written from years of guiding in and around Hue. Distances are our own measurements. The village’s account of its name, its origins and the money behind its tombs is as it is told in An Bang; the cemetery belongs to its families.