Da Nang’s Golden Bridge named in world’s new wonders by UK daily

Cau Vang (Golden Bridge) in Da Nang city (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - In a recent survey, which is conducted by Daily Mail among the ‘young millennials’ (born from 1982 to 2000), there are six New Wonders of the world that impressed youth most and Vietnam’s Golden Bridge is on the top of the list. 

The Golden Bridge, which is insinuated as the “palms of a giant” by the Daily Mail, is a 150-metre-long pedestrian bridge in the Ba Na Hills resort, connecting the cable car station with the gardens to avoid a steep incline and providing a scenic overlook and tourist attraction. 

The bridge loops nearly back around to itself, and has two giant hands, constructed of fibreglass and wire mesh, designed to appear like stone hands that support the structure.

It was designed by TA Landscape Architecture. The company's founder, Vu Viet Anh, was the project's principal designer, with Tran Quang Hung as the bridge designer and Nguyen Quang Huu Tuan as the bridge's design manager. Construction began in July 2017 and was completed in April 2018.

Vu Viet Anh told Reuters that the bridge was designed to simulate the image of "giant hands of Gods, pulling a strip of gold out of the land."

According to the Daily Mail, shortly after it opened since June 2018, more than 20,000 posts about the bridge have appeared on Instagram at #goldenbridgevietnam. The principal architect, Vu Viet Anh, says he wanted “to invoke the sensation of walking along a thread stretching through the hands of God”.

The Golden Bridge was ranked among the top 100 World's Greatest Places in 2018 by Time magazine.

It has quickly become a major tourist draw at the Ba Na Hills resort in Da Nang. The bridge serves as a transit between a replica of a French village and Le Jardin D'Amour flower garden.

From the bridge, visitors have a panoramic view of Nui Chua, regarded as the most beautiful mountain in Da Nang.

The bridge attracts extensive media coverage and drawing visitors from all over the world. It has also become a fixture in several annual international awards.

It was featured among the world's best travel photos of 2018 (CNN), and Pictures of the year 2018 (Reuters).

In 2020, Insider, a leading U.S. news site, also chose it in their list of the most stunning bridges in the world.

It shares the honor with other world famous bridges like Pont Alexandre III (France), Ponte Vecchio (Italy), Tower Bridge (England) and Trift (Switzerland).

"The Golden Bridge, a foot bridge near Da Nang City, Vietnam, looks like it’s supported by two giant hands. This whimsical bridge extends about 4,600 feet above sea level," Insider said.

Other “New Wonders” of the world are including the Bosco Verticale (or 'Vertical Forest') in Milan – Italia; Gardens by the Bay in Singapore; the Dubai Frame in UAE; Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao- Spain; the Matrimandir- India; the soon-to-be-open Underwater Sculpture Park off Miami Beach- USA; the 'Jungle Swings' on the island of Bali in Indonesia; and Kalbarri Skywalk, Australia.

“The Taj Mahal, the Acropolis, Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu... the list of the world's wonders has not changed much over the decades.

But now we are dreaming extra hard of the next great journey, is it time to think again? The world's great sights will always retain their allure. But the new millennium has seen fresh wonders appearing on our travel itineraries,” the Daily Mail wrote.  

The Golden Bridge is on the top of a mountain in Ba Na Hills and is only accessible by cable car. The cable cars are operated by Sun World only, meaning the only way to get to the hands bridge is by buying a ticket to visit Bana Hills(a franchise of theme parks in Vietnam).

It is a 40 minute drive from Da Nang city center or one hour from Hoi An and pretty straight forward to get to.

You can get to Bana Hills foot from Da Nang city or Hoi An by taxi, shuttle bus, or private transfer./.