Yangzhou city jiangsu province china

Scheduled to begin at the upcoming Southern Liberation and National Reunification holiday (April 30), the programme will seek to create new distinctive tourism products so as to enhance the experience of tourists to the city.

The programme is the realisation of the city’s plan to develop its night-time economy and will be piloted from 2021 to 2023.

Da Nang by Night targets foreign tourists from key markets such as China, the Republic of Korea and Southeast Asia, as well as those from potential markets such as Russia, Australia and the US when the Covid-19 pandemic is brought under control and international routes are permitted to resume.

It will also aim to attract domestic tourists from places with direct flights to Da Nang, such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Can Tho, the Central Highlands and neighbouring provinces.

The programme will include lighting shows, night-time tourism and service activities at selected places of interest, the night beach of My An, and cultural events along the Han River such as street dances, music, food and traditional arts.

There will also be night tours on the Han River and between Da Nang and Hoi An.

As part of the programme, there will be happy hours where tourists can enjoy special discounts at local shops, supermarkets, shopping centres and restaurants in order to boost demand after 10pm.

Quang Binh Province experiences the dry season from April to August, which is an ideal time to explore the Phong Nha – Ke Bang National Park and Ozo Treetop Park in particular.

Covering a total area of nearly five hectares around imposing lime mountains, Ozo Park is the first park in Vietnam to be located inside a primitive forest. Visitors to the park can not only breathe in pure natural atmosphere but also participate in various adventurous games.

They can walk on wooden bridges suspended among the trees, with the total length of the walkways being nearly 1km. The jade Ozo stream flows under the bridges like a soft silk strip, where many water activities take place, such as kayaking, stand up paddleboarding (SUP), and rowing.

Thrill seekers to the park will be treated with the zip lines and tightrope walks. They can also bicycle into the dense forest or take a trip to explore the magnificent beauty of stalactites inside the 2.5km-long Ozo Cave.

After a long day with full activities, visitors can enjoy relaxing and a tingling ‘fish massage’ therapy on the edge of the water.

Lung Cu Flag Tower is a leading check-in spot located in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang. The relic site consists of a 30-metre-tall tower topped with a large 54-square-metre Vietnamese flag which can be found on the summit of Lung Cu Peak. (Photo: Duy Hieu)

Situated in Hanoi, the capital’s flag tower is one of the city’s key symbols and is part of the world heritage site Thang Long Imperial Citadel. (Photo: Vu Minh Quan)

A flag tower in the northern province of Nam Dinh was completed by the Nguyen dynasty back in 1843. Despite being destroyed in during previous conflicts, the site was restored in 1997. (Photo: Nam Dinh Province’s museum)

Hien Luong Tower stands at a height of 38 metres on the northern bank of the Ben Hai River in the central province of Quang Tri. (Photo: Phongnha Explorer)

Located in front of the former Hue Imperial Citadel, the flag tower is part of the Hue monument complex. At 17.5 metres, tall the tower consists of three flat-top pyramids and also features a flag pole which is 40 metres high. (Photo: Gia Linh)

Thu Ngu Flag Tower is situated in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City. Originally built 150 years ago, the landmark has recently been renovated in an effort to turn it into a prominent tourist attraction. (Photo: James Clark)

The flag tower located at Ca Mau southern cape was inaugurated within the framework of Ca Mau Cape Tourism and Culture Week in 2019. It is a top sightseeing spot in Ca Mau Province. (Photo: Quang.Quang)

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Residents and tourists alike have shared their disappointment over the removal of large portions of the Franciscaines Misionnaires de Marie – an abandoned monastery in the Central Highlands city of Da Lat – during the site’s renovation.

Spanning more than seven hectares, the chapel and residential quarters of Franciscaines Misionnaires de Marie sit between Tran Quang Dieu and Hung Vuong Streets in Da Lat, which is the capital of Lam Dong Province.

For years, the iconic chapel has been an inspiration for Vietnamese artists and photographers, being reimagined in countless works of art.

A ruined complex

According to writer Nguyen Vinh Nguyen, the Benedictine complex was designed and built by French architects Alexandre Leonard and Paul Veysseyre in the late 30s and early 40s, marking the onset of Benedictine missionaries from the West making their way to Vietnam.

In 1954, these missionaries left the complex in the hands of Franciscans nuns before moving to Hue in the central region to set up the Thien An Monastery.

In the following years, the nuns enlisted Vietnamese architect Pham Khanh Chu to design additional classrooms behind the existing complex.

According to Tran Ngoc Trac, former head of Lam Dong Province Arts and Literature Association, the mission was known as Viet Nu Commercial School in 1969.

In 1979, the seven-hectare complex was handed over to the government.

Over the following decades, the school’s two classroom blocks and residential building served as the province’s supplementary school, then as the Lam Vien Hotel, and eventually Tran Phu High School.

In the 1980s, another building was built between the two blocks.

The chapel and monastery were next used as a warehouse, sports hall, and residential structure.

It was eventually abandoned for several years before becoming a campus of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture.

At one point, nearly 20 families illegally occupied the chapel but were eventually forced out by local authorities.

Pulling out all the stops

The Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture, which currently manages the complex, said it has plans to restore the site.

“We are doing our best to preserve the monastery’s artistic value,” said the school’s representative.

“We expect it to be a landmark of the university’s Da Lat campus in which potential architects from the Central Highlands and neighbouring areas are trained.”

Plans on the renovation include a new amphitheater being built in the complex and the restoration of dilapidated structures.

The chapel will be transformed into a library and meeting hall which will host architecture and art workshops, while the residential structures will be used as boarding houses for lecturers.

“We decided to restore the existing constructions of the chapel and residential structure though they are not listed in the government’s compulsory reservation scheme,” the university told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

“We see the complex as a meaningful and valuable heritage site.

“Restoring costs much more than rebuilding but we must protect this significant landmark.”

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