2023 marks the 10^th inauguration anniversary of Da Nang’s Rong (Dragon) Bridge. The bridge is distinguished by its winding shape, it looks like a dragon flying over the Han River towards the big sea. Due to its unique and different design, the bridge has become an iconic symbol of Da Nang, and it becomes more popular as an attractive tourist destination for domestic and international visitors to experience.

The Rong Bridge puts on fire-breathing shows at 9:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Photo: HUYNH LE

Every Saturday and Sunday evening, thousands of tourists and locals gather in anticipation of the light and fire show. The road is closed to traffic just before 9:00pm, with crowds thronging the six-lane bridge. Every night of the weekend, local residents and visitors are treated to a pyrotechnic show that adds flair to what could have easily been a routine civil engineering project.  An expectant hush descends, and then, with a roar, the dragon’s head spits fearsome plumes of fire, followed by hissing clouds of water vapor. In addition to the weekend shows of fire breathing, which take place at 9:00 pm on Saturdays and Sundays, the bridge is illuminated each night with thousands of LED lights, which flow through the colour spectrum, giving dynamic, dazzling views that reflect off the surface of the river.

The Dragon Bridge is 666m long, 37.5m wide and has six lanes for traffic. It opened to traffic on March 29, 2013. The bridge was designed by the US-based Ammann & Whitney Consulting Engineers with Louis Berger Group. Construction on the bridge began in 2009, and the cost of the bridge over the Han River was more than VND 1,500 billion.

The bridge was inaugurated on March 29, 2013, to mark the 38^th anniversary of the liberation of Da Nang. The bridge is a symbol of the city's newfound prosperity.

The Dragon in the Vietnamese belief system is a supernatural creature closely associated with Vietnamese people’s lives.

The dragon itself is modeled after one of the symbols of the Ly Dynasty. During the Ly dynasty from the 11^th to the early 13^th century, depictions of the dragon were both sophisticated and unique.

The dragon is one of the most important symbols in Vietnamese culture as it symbolizes power, nobility and good fortune.

This modern bridge over the Han River provides the shortest road link from the Da Nang International Airport to other main roads in Da Nang, and a more direct route to My Khe and Non Nuoc beaches on the eastern part of the city.

The Dragon Bridge is wowing visitors with its unique and different design. It has been named among the 30 most beautiful bridges in the world, and is one of the city’s top tourist attractions, contributing to creating a nighttime hotspot for culture and entertainment for locals and tourists. The best place to watch the incredible fire breathing and water spraying show in Da Nang is Tran Hung Dao Street. Besides, you can take boat tours on the Han River as prows are painted with the dragon’s likeness.

Reporting by HUYNH LE – Translating by H.L