Đồng Đăng

Middle Ages

The area of Đồng Đăng (同登) was inherently deserted. It had only the Tam Thanh temple, Kỳ Lừa market and a small fort to defend the frontier,^[2] which was built in the Later Lê Dynasty around the 16th century.

Đồng Đăng was once an unexpected land until the Battle of Đồng Đăng occurred, which caused shock of both Guangxi and Tonkin in 1885.^{[clarification needed]}

20th century

In September 1940 a group of Japanese officers, in spite of an agreement signed the 22nd, attacked Đồng Đăng and laid siege to Lam Sơn, beginning the Japanese invasion of French Indochina. In March 1945 the Japanese again attacked, and it was the site of the fiercest fighting of the March coup d'état, when a company of Tonkinese Rifles and a battery of colonial artillery held off the invaders for three days before being massacred.

In 1979, the border township became ground for heavy engagements between Chinese and Vietnamese forces during the Sino-Vietnamese War.

21st century

At 08:13 AM on February 26, 2019, Đồng Đăng Station was honored to be the first place of Vietnam to welcome North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to prepare for the summit with US President Donald Trump in Hanoi.^[3]

On April 21, 2025, after the dissolution of Cao Lộc Rural District by the Government of Vietnam, according to the Plan for arrangement of the commune-level administrative units in 2025^{[note 2]} by the Lạng Sơn Provincial People's Committee, Đồng Đăng Township was officially merged with four communes, Hồng Phong, Phú Xá, Thụy Hùng, and Bảo Lâm, to become a new administrative unit from midnight on May 1: Đồng Đăng commune (xã Đồng Đăng).^[4]

Topography

Đồng Đăng is best known as a border commune on the Vietnamese side of the main road and rail crossing to China. It is on National Route 1.

Đồng Đăng station and the commune capital are several kilometres short of the Friendship Pass border crossing.^{[note 3][note 4]} It is one of three main border crossings with China, the others being Móng Cái–Dongxing, Guangxi to the East on the coast, and Laokay–Hekou, Yunnan, inland 150 km Northwest.^{[note 5]} A fourth crossing is the Trà Lĩnh District–Longbang, Guangxi crossing.

Landscapes

From the Middle Ages

• Kỳ Lừa market (Kỳ Lừa thị)
• Nhị Thanh temple (Nhị Thanh quán)
• Tam Thanh temple (Tam Thanh quán)
• Tô Thị stone (Tô Thị thạch)

From the 20th century

• Friendship Pass (Hữu Nghị quan)
• Đồng Đăng Fort (Đồn Đồng Đăng)
• Hanoi–Đồng Đăng Railway (Hà Nội–Đồng Đăng thiết lộ)
• Tien Yen–Lang Son–Cao Bang Expressway (Tiên Yên–Lạng Sơn–Cao Bằng cao tốc lộ)