A huge banyan tree is attracting curious visitors to the central province of Quang Ngai’s Nghia Hanh District.

Planted in the temple courtyard in Lam Son Village in Hanh Nhan Commune some 300 years ago, the tree is 25 metres tall and 6.8 metres across.

According to the village elders, over the decades, despite being impacted by wars and natural disasters, with the protection of locals, the tree has been growing well, symbolising the rise and vitality of the local people and land.

It has been associated with the cultural and spiritual lives of many generations of people in the area, they said.

It has been acknowledged as a heritage tree by the Vietnam Association for Conservation of Nature and Environment.

It is the second ancient tree in Quang Ngai Province to be thus honoured after a 220-year-old thi tree (diospyros decandra) also in Nghia Hanh District.

VNA