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Region: Central Vietnam> Province: Da Nang>Location: China Beach

China Beach sights and attractions

Marble Mountains - An essential stop

China Beach

Description
Marble Mountain has been extensively developed and promoted as a tourist attraction, but the haunting beauty of the spot makes it easy to forget you're part of the crowd. It's an essential stop if you're in the area.

The Marble Mountains are made up of five limestone outcrops in isolation from the surrounding plains, each riddled with caves and grottos, with some made into pagodas and shrines. Each mountain represents one of the five elements of the universe, being water, wood, fire, metal and earth. The main mountain, representing water, has a path to the top with two entrances open to tourists. There is a 15,000d entry fee at the base of a very long flight of stairs. You can also enter from the second entrance, farther down the road, which is a much less strenuous climb, though most visitors feel the attractions 'flow' better if you start from the steps. The top offers spectacular views of Da Nang and the surrounding Marble Mountains. A better vantage point is reached through a small hole at the top of one of the caves, with the views including China Beach and Cham Island.

Some of the larger caves have been transformed into religious shrines, with Buddha statues built within them along with all the associated guardians. Some are quite eerie with the pungent smell of incense wafting in the air and the walls pocked by bullets from small arms fighting during the American War.

During this period some violent fighting went on in cave-to-cave battles. In Huyen Khong cave, one of the large holes in the ceiling was caused by a bomb. Within this cave there are a number of shrines, temple guards and Buddha statues, and there are still stalactites on the ceiling. Off to the side of the cave there are two small stalactites believed to represent breasts. One is dripping while the other is dry. According to legend, when Emperor Tu Duc entered and touched one of the stalactites, it stopped dripping and never has since.

There is debate about the best time of day to visit Marble Mountain. Morning and evening offer relief from the heat, and some people arrive after 17:00, when they stop charging admission. This provides an opportunity to watch the sunset from the mountain, though bring a flash light for the trip down, and you must be fairly sure-footed to make it without breaking your neck. But the real highlight of the caves is the light streaming into the caverns from the openings above, sifting through the incense-laden air. Great for pictures, and it only happens midday, between 10:00 and 14:00. Our advice is to go in the middle of the day and sweat it out. There are plenty of cool caverns in which to seek relief between trips out into the blazing sun.

Opening Hours: Daily: 07:00 to 17:00

Non Nuoc Hamlet - A carver's delight

At the base of the Marble Mountains

Description
At the base of the Marble Mountains is Non Nuoc Hamlet, which is crowded with myriad stone carving shops, very reminiscent of Mahalliburipuram, India, and filled with the piercing sound of stone being sawn into chunks and endlessly chipped away at. Ten years ago, there were just an handful of shops, but now the number has exploded to nearly a hundred. Luckily they realised that Marble Mountain would disappear if they kept lopping pieces off of it, so most of the marble is now imported from elsewhere. Many of the statues are impressively massive and exquisitely detailed, and the kinetic energy in the air as you walk down the street makes it a great spot to wander through and watch the craftsmen at work. All of these stores are very keen to sell you a ten-foot high temple dog, but if your pack isn't big enough for that, they do have some very tasteful, smaller carvings, and as always, the price is negotiable.