Vietnam's Golden Bridge ranked among top 100 destinations in 2018

The Cau Vang (Golden Bridge) in the central coastal city of Da Nang has been ranked among the top 100 World’s Greatest Places in 2018 by the US’s Time magazine.

The Cau Vang (Golden Bridge) in the central coastal city of Da Nang
The Cau Vang (Golden Bridge) in the central coastal city of Da Nang

Remarking on its architectural creativity, the magazine’s Julia Zorthian notes: “The two massive stony hands emerging from the mountains of central Vietnam may look mossy and cracked like ancient ruins, but don’t be fooled: they’re brand-new wire mesh and fiberglass supports for a striking footbridge that opened in June.”

According to Time, editors and experts at the magazine evaluated the entries based on quality, originality, innovation, sustainability and influence.

The event is considered as a special highlight for the industry "smoke-free" of Da Nang in particular and Vietnam in general.

Offering grand views of mountains and forests from a height of almost 1,000 metres above sea level, the bridge is set to attract increasing numbers of tourists to Da Nang and Ba Na Hills.

Other places on the Time’s list include the Macan Museum in Indonesia and Tianjin Binhai Library in China.

Since its opening in June this year, the bridge has attracted a throng of visitors, all eager to see a novel piece of architecture.

Images of the two giant hands holding up the 150 meters long bridge at Ba Na Hills near Da Nang have gone viral and many international media outlets have remarked on the bridge, including AFP, Reuters and CNN.

The walkway is 150 metres long and comprises of eight spans, each of which is lined with purple chrysanthemums. Located at more than 1,400m above sea level, the bridge serves as a walkway between a replica of a French village and the Le Jardin D’Amour flower garden in the Ba Na Hills resort. From the bridge, visitors have a panoramic view of the green mountains of Nui Chua.

The bridge took just under a year to construct and was designed by TA Landscape Architecture. It is part of a US$2 billion development project to attract more tourists to Vietnam.