Do Son

Hotels In:

• Hue
• Dalat
• Do Son
• Halong Bay
• Hanoi
• Ho Chi Minh City

Do Son is a peninsula off the Vietnamese coast that juts into the South China Sea. Do Son has three bathing beaches that intersperse the forests and hills native to the area thus making it a vacation destination for wealthy Vietnamese and foreign tourists. The streets of this beach town are lined with charming French-style guesthouses and upscale resort hotels with magnificent sea views.

Do Son is also home to one of the few casinos in Vietnam. Opened in 1994, the Do Son Casino is located within the Do Son Resort Hotel. Curiously, the casinos in Vietnam are open only to foreigners and new casinos can only be opened with the consent of the Prime Minister. According to the Vietnamese government, gambling is a 'social evil' and local Vietnamese are forbidden to participate. This goes to show that the Vietnamese people, for the sake of tourism are willing to forgo certain moral standards of their culture. Some locals detest the casinos regardless of whatever economic benefit they bring to the country hence Do Son has a varied reputation among local Vietnamese.

Do Son often puts on a Tourism Festival to attract visitors to the area. Activities during the festival include traditional buffalo fighting, dragon boat races and a golf tournament at the Do Son Seaside Golf Resort. An important historical landmark to check out while visiting Do Son is the Tuong Long Pagoda, which is located in the Ngoc Hai ward of Do Son. The pagoda replaces the Tuong Long Tower which was destroyed in the early 19th century. The tower was built during the Ly Dynasty and it had a Buddha statue inside as well as wall tiles with beautiful floral imagery. Another important site is the Ba De Temple which legend has it was built in honor of a girl who the Trinh Giang Lord raped, impregnated then drowned in the sea. The legend says that her spirit has protected the local people from dangerous waves so they built a temple to worship her spirit at the foot of Doc mountain.

Do Son is a township of Hai Phong city and is one of the main attractions for this illustrious city, the other attraction being Cat Ba Island. Do Son is about 22 km from Hai Phong city. Hai Phong is the main port in Northern Vietnam and is located about 100 km from Hanoi. Hai Phong is a stop for many tourists on their way to check out Cat Ba and Halong Bay, the famous UNESCO World Heritage site. Hai Phong retains much of its French architecture from the days of colonialism and Do Son has preserved a lot of this quaint French style as well. The streets in Hai Phong are well known for being lined by the so-called flame trees (trees with fern-like leaves and bight red-orange flowers).

Historically Hai Phong was a huge industrial and trade center in Vietnam with vibrant local markets until the French began their occupation in the 19th century. The French, upon occupation, converted Do Son into a resort town for expatriates. Before becoming a resort town, Do Son's location served to make the town an ideal navy base. In fact, it has been documented that Do Son was a marine base for King Tran and was the site of a naval battle at the end of the 13th century. It is rumored that the last French soldiers occupying Vietnam departed from Do Son in 1955. Hai Phong was repeated bombed by the United States in the Vietnam War because it was the North's major port but has since been rebuilt.

From Hanoi, which is 100 km away, you can get to Hai Phong via train or bus. From Ho Chi Minh City, you can catch a plane to Hai Phong.

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Vietnam Travel Guide Want cities? Slurp down steaming pho in a street stall, toff up in a tailored suit, negotiate head-on traffic in a flimsy cyclo. Want nature? Get your fill of green in endless rice paddies, cool down in the mountains, laze on South China beaches. Want the best on Vietnam? Get yourself this guide.