Van Lai Communal House, Suoi Hai Commune

Van Lai Communal House is located at the end of a high earthen hill with a phoenix-shaped terrain in the center of the village, facing South. Behind it is Hung Mountain providing a canopy; on the right side of this area, a stream surrounds it as a flowing water channel, making this land a sacred site. The communal house includes: yard, garden, gate, and left and right corridors. Main items include: Front Hall and Rear Palace, arranged in the shape of the character 'dinh', with the front-knife rear-block style. Current total managed area: 4,138.2m2

The communal house includes the following main items:

Gate: From the concrete-paved road, one reaches the gate; the gate is built in a pillar style with 3 passages, and the main passage is formed by two massive ornamental pillars. On top of the pillars are embossed four stylized phoenixes facing decorated flowers; the phoenix is a sacred creature representing the upper realm as prescribed in traditional Vietnamese art. Next is a tiger-tally plaque, with four dragon heads at the four corners extending in four directions majestically. Below is a four-sided lantern panel with embossed decorative mouldings; inside the four-sided lantern panel are embossed decorative mouldings, and inside the lantern panel is embossed the 'four sacred creatures' motif (dragon, ly, turtle, and phoenix). The pillar bodies bear pairs of couplets in Han characters praising the landscape of the communal house and the merits of the village Tutelary God. Connecting the two large pillars with the two smaller pillars is a more simply made passage with large ornamental pillars; on top of the pillars, a pair of nghe lions used to be placed, meaning to spiritually guard pilgrims from all directions before they entered to worship the saint.

Front Hall: Van Lai Communal House has an architectural structure in the shape of the character 'Dinh', with the front-knife rear-block style, modeled after traditional architecture with 3 bays, 2 side wings, 4 curved knife-edge roofs, roofed with local tiles; the ridge and edge bands are decorated with lemon flowers; at both ends of the ridge are embossed kim heads; in the middle of the ridge are two dragons facing the moon; the edge bands are embossed with unicorns facing.

Rear Palace: Connecting from the outside Front Hall to the Rear Palace is a longitudinal house with 1 bay and 1 lean-to, connecting from the central bay to the Front Hall toward the rear. Externally, the Rear Palace is built in the style of a gable wall with sealed gable ends and ngai arms; the roof ridge rises high, the sealed gable section is prominent, and the edge bands slope gradually toward the ngai arms. On the rear surface of the gable wall, a tiger tally holding the character 'Longevity' is embossed very clearly.

The Van Lai Communal House Festival is held from the 6th to the 8th day of the first lunar month. During the festival, annual ceremonies are organized; the Van Lai Communal House Festival is held from the 6th to the 8th day of the first lunar month. The village festival is a cultural and religious activity of the community, helping to unite the people, reminding everyone of their origins and gratitude to their ancestors, and also providing an occasion for local people to show their skill and enjoy entertainment after hard days of labor, with the purpose of praying for national peace and prosperity, abundant goods, and encouraging trades to open and develop.