Thanh Toan Tile Roofed Bridge Village wasn’t always named as such. Used to be called Thuy Thanh Commune situated in Huong Thuy District in the central province of Thua Thine-Hue , the residents are so proud of its tile-roofed bridge that it later earned the name for its place. In fact, the bridge is so spectacular that it has become a popular tourist spot. But aside from the bridge, something else draws visitors into the place – in fact, someone, perhaps as old and as interesting as the structure – the soothsaying guide.

Tran Thi Dieu is a 78 year-old woman who has spent almost all her life working as a tour guide in the place – with a little sideshow for both entertainment and extra income. After all the tourists have taken their pictures of the place, Dieu greets them with a warm smile and goes on with her tour by telling her visitors about the history and architecture of her hometown and the famous bridge. The tile-roof bridge is three centuries old.  Since the Hue Festival in 2002, Dieu became known in the place quickly because of her fluency and knowledge of the English language, a fact that always amuses and in fact impresses the tourists. And like the famous Thanh Toan Bridge, she has become like a local legend herself because of something else – her fortune-telling skills.

After the tourists have taken photographs of the bridge, they usually get excited when Dieu starts asking who among them want their fortunes to be told. The young foreigners especially look forward to this part of the tour, curious as to what their future brings. Dieu holds the tourists’ palms and read their future in terms of their career and love life, and they usually, if not always, stand up with a smile or blush on their face.  Dieu insists she doesn’t practice superstitious things. She says she tells positive things that make her clients feel happy and hopeful about their future. She doesn’t charge a specific fee for her fortune-telling, but accepts and is grateful for whatever the tourists give her. It could be between VND2,000-U.S.$100, depending on how much the visitor feels like giving. And weird as it may seem, she doesn’t offer her fortune-telling services to Vietnamese tourists. According to her, she can only read the palms of foreigners.  Other tourist guides in the area are not threatened or feel competitive with Dieu’s work both as a tour guide and a soothsayer. In fact, they see her as a “bonus” to the place. And like any “historical figure,” she has her own story to tell. She learned the English language when she worked as a housemaid for American soldiers before 1975. One particular American colonel taught her the language so she could understand his instructions.  After telling the fortunes of the foreigners, she always reminds them, especially the young women, to “protect themselves before marriage.”

This must be out of her own experience of having born a daughter from a married man, and that daughter following in the same footsteps by rearing a child out of wedlock, and Dieu having to be the one to take care of after her daughter got married to another man. For the past 30 years, Dieu has sat in the same bridge from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., every single day, waiting for tourists to offer them her services. Though she admits to know nothing about grammar and writing and just the speaking language, she feels lucky to know the language at all. According to her, one of the obstacles facing tourism in their area is the language barrier. To help solve this problem, she spends her free time teaching English to her fellow villagers.  One shop owner attested to Dieu’s big contribution to their place by saying that ever since she learned the language, more tourists frequented her place and business got better. Dieu just smiles but she herself should know that knowing and teaching the English language to her fellow villagers bridges the gap and improves their tourism.