VietNamNet Bridge - Installing lifts in front of relics and chiseling mountains to set up statues are compromising the physical integrity and beauty of Ngu Hanh Son (Marble Mountains), a famous landscape in Da Nang.


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Ngu Hanh Son in Da Nang



The Da Nang City Department of Culture and Sports has rung the alarm over actions it believes are harming natural heritage in the city.

“If Da Nang tries to develop construction works to attract more tourists, the relics will no longer be intact to be recognized as the nation’s special relics. There are only a few relics still existing. Others have been seriously compromised,” said Huynh Van Hung, director of the department.

In early 2018, at the working session with Da Nang’s Party Committee Secretary Truong Quang Nghia, Ngu Hanh Son district’s Party Committee Secretary Le Trung Chinh proposed to apply for recognition of Ngu Hanh Son landscape as the nation’s special relic.

Chinh said Ngu Hanh Son, associated with the people’s magnanimous historical revolutionary struggle, bearing spiritual and cultural significance, serves as an attractive tourism point of Da Nang. It needs to be listed as a national special relic, he said.

If Da Nang tries to develop construction works to attract more tourists, the relics will no longer be intact to be recognized as the nation’s special relics. There are only a few relics still existing. Others have been seriously compromised

However, Hung said that with the current status, Ngu Hanh Son cannot be recognized because it doesn’t satisfy requirements. He said Ngu Hanh Son has been seriously compromised by local people trying to attract more tourists. 

“In fact, heritage sites need tourism to exist. However, the problem is that we still cannot protect heritage areas and develop tourism in a harmonious way,” he commented.

The Am Phu Cave of Ngu Hanh Son, for example, has been seriously compromised. 

Hung mentioned the lifts next to Thuy Son Mountain. The Ministry of Culture had asked Da Nang authorities not to build the lift there.

“If we recognize Ngu Hanh Son as a vestige site, the National Heritage Board will have questions about this,” Hung said.

He cited the example of the recognition of Dien Hai Citadel as a national special relic. When the documents about Dien Hai Citadel were submitted to the Ministry of Culture, 27 leading cultural experts came to explore the site. The experts said only when Da Nang could relocate the 80 households residing in the western part of the citadel would it be able to ask for the PM’s approval.

The lift that brings travelers to the top of Thuy Son Mount has stirred strong debate between tourism development planners and culture conservatives.


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