VietNamNet Bridge – The ground-breaking ceremony of a 7km long cable car system with a total investment of VND4.4 trillion, or nearly $210 million, to the peak of the Fansipan took place in Sapa on November 2, with the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai.

Deputy PM Hoang Trung Hai at the ground-breaking ceremony.

The cable car system is part of a project named " Fansipan - Sapa complex of cultural tourism, cable, entertainment and hotel," invested by the Fansipan-Sapa Cable Tourism Service Co., Ltd., a member of Sun Group (which built the Ba Na cable car project).

The cable car system will connect Sapa to Muong Hoa Valley and the Fansipan peak. With a total investment of $210 million, this is the first three-wire cable car system in Asia and the longest, highest and most complex three-wire cables in the world.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai praised the project as one of the highlights of Sapa tourism.

It is expected that the work will be completed by the end of 2014 and put into use in 2015. Then, the journey to conquer the Fansipan peak will be only 15 minutes, with speed reaching 8m/s and the maximum transport capacity of 2,000 passengers per hour.

Construction of the cable car system was launched on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Sa Pa tourism. So far this year, Sapa has welcomed 610,000 tourists, including international visitors from 70 countries and territories around the world. It is expected that once the cable car project is completed, Sapa will welcome about 2 million visitors a year in 2007 and 3 million passengers in 2020.

Fansipan is the highest in Indochina , at 3,143 metres. It is located in the Lao Cai Province of the Northwest region of Vietnam, 9 km southwest of Sa Pa Township in the Hoang Lien Son mountain range.

Fansipan is dubbed "the Roof of Indochina"; it is to be approved as one of the very few ecotourist spots of Vietnam, with about 2,024 floral varieties and 327 faunal species.

The topography of Fansipan is varied. Muong Hoa Valley, at the lowest altitude (950 to 1000m), is created by a narrow strip of land at the base on the east side of the mountain. It can be climbed in a steep and fairly strenuous hike.

Na Son