Asia Park Da Nang

Seen from the bank of the Hàn River, looking south, a huge circle of color-changing LED light hangs against the night sky. This is the Sun Wheel. It stands 115 meters tall, as high as a building of 25 floors. It is also the gateway to Sun World Asia Park.

Asia Park is the popular name. The official name today is Sun World Da Nang Wonders, and the investor is the Sun Group. The park stands on the west bank of the Hàn River, near the Trần Thị Lý Bridge. It is the Sun Group's first urban Sun World. That sets it apart from Bà Nà Hills, which lies up on a mountain, and from Sun World Ha Long, which lies on the coast. Asia Park opened in 2015.

People often confuse Asia Park with Bà Nà Hills. Both belong to the Sun Group, but they are two separate projects in two different places.

The star of the park is the Sun Wheel. It was inaugurated on July 18, 2014, before the whole park opened. The wheel has 64 cabins, each holding up to six people. Along its frame, 13,000 LED lights keep changing color. One full turn takes 15 minutes.

The Sun Group announced the Sun Wheel as one of the ten tallest wheels in the world. That exact ranking has not been confirmed, but it is safe to say the wheel is one of the tallest in Southeast Asia. From a cabin, the whole of Da Nang spreads out below. There are the Dragon Bridge, the Hàn River, the Sơn Trà peninsula and, far off, Mỹ Khê Beach. At night the view is magnificent.

Inside the grounds stand buildings modeled on the architecture of other Asian countries. The path leads first through the Vietnam area, with communal houses and pagodas of the north. Next is the China area, with a miniature Forbidden City. Then the Japan area, with a Heian temple and a Torii gate. In the India area there is a miniature Taj Mahal. The Cambodia area has a miniature Angkor Wat, and the Indonesia area a miniature Borobudur. More areas follow. In a single evening, a walk through the grounds takes in nearly ten Asian cultures.

Two rides stand for the park's thrills, Queen Cobra and Golden Sky Tower.

Queen Cobra is a suspended roller coaster, the kind where the cabins hang below the track. It is the longest suspended roller coaster in Vietnam. It has five twists of 360 degrees at a height of 34 meters. The ride is fairly intense.

Golden Sky Tower is a free-fall tower 47 meters high. Riders sit in their seats and are raised slowly to the top, then dropped. Their screams from high up carry all the way down to the riverside.

For small children, there is a play area with gentler rides. There is also a food court with dishes from across Asia.

Along this stretch of the Hàn River, the Dragon Bridge breathes fire and water on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

On a clear night, with the lights on, the Sun Wheel waits.