High Above H'mong King's Palace in Vietnam

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The palace was built by wealthy warlord and opium trader Vuong Chinh Duc, who established his own H'mong army in the early 19th century.

Legend has it that a Chinese geomancer chose the location for the three court-yard palace in the cirques surrounded by the jagged karst limestone cliffs because the terrain looks like a turtle shell, which represents long life and wealth. The symmetrical building, which looks like three square zeros stacked on top of each other from above, was carefully positioned and constructed in accordance with feng shui.

It took Chinese labors and skilled H'mong craftsman about eight years to build the fort of stone, fir wood and Terra-cotta tiles in the Chinese architectural style of the Man Qing era.

The H'mong's craftsmanship is visible on the elegantly carved fir panels at the entrance, which stand between two plastered pillars with red Chinese script running down them. The entrance doors are open, as are the doors to the first court yard and the second and the third. Each doorway frames the one behind it; each getting smaller and smaller as they receded into the distance.

Music by Glenn Simonelli