INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
golden bridge crowded with gleeful visitors taking selfies at the country's latest eccentric tourist draw.Designed to make visitors feel
like they're taking a stroll on a shimmering thread stretching across the hands of gods, the "Golden Bridge" has attracted hordes of guests
since it opened in the Ba Na Hills near Danang in June.Images of the bridge have gone viral on social media, much to the surprise of the
architect who had no idea it would attract so much attention."We're proud that our product has been shared by people all over the world,"
principal designer and founder of TA Landscape Architecture, Vu Viet Anh, told AFP.Designed to make visitors feel like they're taking a
stroll on a shimmering thread stretching across the hands of gods, the "Golden Bridge" has attracted hordes of guests since it opened in the
Ba Na Hills near Danang in June (AFP)At 150 metres long (490 feet), the bridge snakes through the forest high up in mountains first
developed by French colonists as a hill station in 1919.Today the area is a major tourist attraction, boasting a cable car, replica French
medieval village -- including faux castle and cathedral -- manicured gardens and a wax museum featuring statues of Lady Gaga and Michael
Jordan.Vietnam Golden Bridge: At 150 metres long (490 feet), the bridge snakes through the forest high up in mountains first developed by
French colonists as a hill station in 1919 (AFP)The only remnants of the original French occupants are the crumbling remains of their
holiday homes that can still be spotted from the cable car.But visitors are mostly interested in the newly built Cau Vang, which means
"Golden Bridge" in Vietnamese.Cau Vang, Vietnam: The communist country has long sought to boost visitor numbers and position itself as a
must-see destination in Southeast Asia (AFP)"The bridge is beautiful with an amazing architectural style, from here we can see Danang City,
it's so nice," Nguyen Trung Phuc told AFP.Another visitor, Nguyen Hien Trang, said: "I have travelled quite a lot but I've never seen any
bridges as beautiful as this one."Images of the bridge have gone viral on social media, much to the surprise of the architect who had no
idea it would attract so much attention
"We're proud that our product has been shared by people all over the world," principal designer and founder of TA Landscape Architecture, Vu
Viet Anh said (AFP)The Ba Na Hills project was built by Sun Group, which has divided opinion with audacious projects elsewhere in Vietnam.In
2016 it opened a cable car on Vietnam's tallest mountain Fansipan in the tourist hotpot Sapa, prompting complaints from locals who felt it
spoiled the landscape and took business away from trekking guides.Vietnam Golden Bridge: "The bridge is beautiful with an amazing
architectural style, from here we can see Danang City, it's so nice," Nguyen Trung Phu, a visitor said (AFP)Vietnam is no stranger to
off-the-wall attractions.A "crystal cloud" installation of 58,000 shimmering Swarovski beads in the rice-terraced hills of northern Vietnam
opened earlier this year, while the surreal "Crazy House" hotel in central Da Lat, designed to look a trippy treehouse, has long attracted
legions of curious visitors.The communist country has long sought to boost visitor numbers and position itself as a must-see destination in
Southeast Asia.Golden Bridge designer Anh said he already has another project in the works: a silver bridge made to look like a god's strand
of hair that will connect to his existing structure in the Ba Na Hills (AFP)It clocked 13 million foreign visitors last year, mostly from
China -- a far cry from the 35 million international visitors to Thailand in 2017.Golden Bridge designer Anh said he already has another
project in the works: a silver bridge made to look like a god's strand of hair that will connect to his existing structure in the Ba Na
Hills.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
