Da Nang’s Han River has been making an impression on many tourists at both home and abroad because of its sparkling and magical appearance.

The Han River and the landscape along its both banks will become even more beautiful and bring more emotions when a series of projects will be implemented in the near future, especially the art lighting project themed ‘River of Light’ which is expected to be a "key" tourism product of the city.

Pictured is the Signify Vietnam Company’s vision for the panoramic view of Da Nang at night under the ‘River of Light’ project.

Bringing many impressive emotions

More than 10 years ago, the song "Magical Han River" composed by musician Nguyen Dinh Tham took the second prize (no first prize) in the contest to write songs about Da Nang in 2013 with profound lyrics, especially the ending chorus: "The night of the Han River is magical, the moonlight tilts/The night of the Han River is magical, sparkling".

The beautiful words in the song were set to music from the poem ‘Remembering Da Nang’ composed by former Deputy Minister of Information and Communications Do Quy Doan in 2007.

The landscape of the Han River and its both banks many years ago left impressions on visitors to Da Nang.

Today, the river is even more beautiful, especially at night when its surface reflects the artistic lights of buildings, beautiful bridges and even tourist boats.

Former Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Ngoc Chinh, who is Chairman of the Viet Nam Urban Planning and Development Association, shared that the landscape of the Han River and its banks left many wonderful impressions in the hearts of tourists.

In August 2023, the Viet Nam Urban Planning and Development Association coordinated with South Korean, Japanese and Taiwanese planning associations to organize a conference on architectural planning about Han River in Da Nang.

During the event, 280 participating professors, scientists, and leading experts in urban planning and architecture showed their great impression on the entire landscape system of the Han River and its banks.

“Even though South Korea has the Han River and Japan also has beautiful rivers, these experts greatly admired the Han River landscape of Da Nang. People also feel the very modern development of a city with rivers and seas. That really makes us very proud because Da Nang has good management and planning plus many projects suitable for the development requirements of the city and the whole country as well" Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Chinh said.

River of light

Recently, the municipal People's Council has approved adjustments on some motivation projects for the city’s socio-economic development during the 2021-2025 period, including the art lighting project themed ‘River of Light’.

The VND378 billion project aims to bring a highlight, and a different and unique tourism product, to lure more tourists, develop tourism and create new development space, new motivation and capacity for the city.

The municipal Department of Construction is completing relevant documents proposing investment policies for this project which is expected to be carried out in 2024.

Director of the Department of Construction Phung Phu Phong said that the ‘River of Light’ project aimed to give the Han River, an iconic Da Nang beauty, an artistic makeover, thereby making the city more vivid and romantic when the night comes.

Accordingly, five bridges spanning the Han River in the city centre, namely Dragon, Han River, Thuan Phuoc, Nguyen Van Troi and Tran Thi Ly, will be bathed in light to 'breathe new life' into Da Nang at night. This will help to create an attractive nighttime tourism product for the city in order to increase tourist numbers and enhance the spiritual lives of local residents, hereby significantly contributing to driving the city’s economic tourism. Especially, the project will help enhance the value of the general urban landscape alongside the Han River, creating a new symbol for the central coastal city.

“The city will build a common automatic control centre for the five bridges, including lighting on both sides of the Han River, railings and on the water surface” he added.

The artistic lighting system for the Nguyen Van Troi Bridge will be implemented by the Philips Group, a world-famous lighting enterprise. Meanwhile, high-rise buildings built along the both banks of the Han River in the future must be invested in additional artistic lighting items according to the city's regulations on color and urban lighting, in a bid to create a uniform and very beautiful landscape at night, Mr. Phung Phu Phong emphasised.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Tourism Tan Van Vuong remarked that the ‘River of Light’ project will be one of Da Nang's "key" tourism products.

Aside from this project, the Department is coordinating with relevant agencies to deploy a pedestrian town on Bach Dang route extending from the Dragon Bridge to the Nguyen Van Troi Bridge; and from Nguyen Van Troi Bridge to the park on the east bank of the Dragon Bridge. The purpose is to create impressive landscapes and space for sightseeing and experience activities for visitors at night during their stay in the city.

Along with the ‘River of Light’, a number of projects have been listed by the municipal People’s Council as key and motivation ones for the city’s socio-economic development during the 2021-2025 period. These are projects with large total investment capital that are expected to create more sparkling, magical landscapes on the Han River and its banks.

Specifically, the Da Nang Central Square project, which has a total investment of about VND 1,100 billion from the local budget, is expected to start construction in 2025.

Work is scheduled to start on the VND450 billion landscape investment project on the east bank of the Han River in Son Tra District in 2025.