Vietnam · VN

Chùa Ngọc Am

Perched on the left bank of the red, silt-laden Red River in Yên Bái city, Ngọc Am Pagoda—formally Tùng Lâm Tự and known to locals simply as "chùa Am"—is the most important Buddhist centre in this north-western gateway province. A little more than a century old, it grew from a humble riverside shelter raised by boat traders praying for safe passage, and today anchors a corridor of temples and river shrines that pilgrims follow every lunar New Year. What makes it worth a visit is the combination of location, living ritual and story: a solemn, old-style complex facing the water, its courtyards filled with incense and bell-sound, a temple that was bombed flat in 1966 and then rebuilt on exactly the same ground by popular demand.