Tuyên Quang is a town in Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, the capital of Tuyen Quang province

Tuyên Quang Province

Tuyên Quang is a province of Vietnam, located in the northeastern part of the country to the northwest of Hanoi, at the centre of Lo River valley, a tributary of the Red River. The delta formation in the province is called the Tonkin Delta. Its capital is Tuyên Quang Township...

.

History

The French post at Tuyen Quang was defended for four months against 12,000 troops of the Yunnan

Yunnan

Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...

 Army and the Black Flag Army

Black Flag Army

The Black Flag Army was a splinter remnant of a bandit group recruited largely from soldiers of ethnic Zhuang background, who crossed the border from Guangxi province of China into Upper Tonkin, in the Empire of Annam in 1865. They became known mainly for their fights against French forces in...

 by two companies of the French Foreign Legion

French Foreign Legion

The French Foreign Legion is a unique military service wing of the French Army established in 1831. The foreign legion was exclusively created for foreign nationals willing to serve in the French Armed Forces...

 during the Sino-French War

Sino-French War

The Sino–French War was a limited conflict fought between August 1884 and April 1885 to decide whether France should replace China in control of Tonkin . As the French achieved their war aims, they are usually considered to have won the war...

 (August 1884 to April 1885). The Siege of Tuyen Quang

Siege of Tuyen Quang

The Siege of Tuyen Quang was an important confrontation between the French and the Chinese armies in Tonkin during the Sino-French War...

 is still remembered as one of the Legion's most celebrated feats of arms, and is commemorated in the first verse of Le Boudin

Le Boudin

Le Boudin is the official march of the French Foreign Legion. Le Boudin is a reference to boudin, a type of blood sausage or black pudding. Le boudin colloquially meant the gear that used to top the backpacks of Legionnaires...

, its principal marching song.

As a town in French Indochina

French Indochina

French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....

, Tuyen Quang served as a garrison. During the First Indochina War

First Indochina War

The First Indochina War was fought in French Indochina from December 19, 1946, until August 1, 1954, between the French Union's French Far East...

, the Viet Minh

Viet Minh

Việt Minh was a national independence coalition formed at Pac Bo on May 19, 1941. The Việt Minh initially formed to seek independence for Vietnam from the French Empire. When the Japanese occupation began, the Việt Minh opposed Japan with support from the United States and the Republic of China...

made the Legionnaires surrender at the memorial to the Battle of Tuyen Quang.

Administrative divisions

Phuong: Hưng Thành, Nông Tiến, Ỷ La, Minh Xuân, Phan Thiết, Tân Quang, Tân Hà. Communes: Tràng Đà, An Tường, Lưỡng Vượng, An Khang, Thái Long, Đội Cấn.