Son Tra Peninsula

From the center of Da Nang, a patch of deep green can be seen to the northeast, jutting out into the sea. That is the Sơn Trà Peninsula, which the people of Da Nang fondly call the green lung of the city.

Sơn Trà is no ordinary tourist spot. The peninsula is 13 kilometers long and measures 60 kilometers around. Its highest point is Ốc Peak, at 696 meters. Since 1977, almost half a century ago, most of the peninsula has been set aside as protected forest, which later became a nature reserve. It is one of very few nature reserves in the world that lie right inside a large city.

The peninsula has a long military history. In 1858, French warships under the command of Rigault de Genouilly landed at Da Nang. Sơn Trà was one of the first lines of defense against the French. It was held by the troops of the Nguyễn dynasty, Vietnam's last royal dynasty. During the Vietnam War, the Americans set up a radar station and a communications base on a summit 621 meters high. They called the place Mắt Thần Đông Dương, the Divine Eye of Indochina. They chose that name because from here they could watch the whole sky over the Gulf of Tonkin, Laos and Cambodia. After 1975, the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense took it over.

The first stop is Linh Ứng Pagoda at Bãi Bụt. Work on the pagoda began in 2004, and it was inaugurated in 2010. Its grounds cover 20 hectares, on a hill that looks out over the sea.

At the center stands a statue of Quan Thế Âm, the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion and mercy. It rises 67 meters. Its lotus base is 35 meters across. Two sculptors, Thụy Lam and Châu Viết Thạnh, worked on it for six years without a break. It is one of the tallest statues of this bodhisattva in Vietnam.

Few people know that the inside of the statue was designed with many floors, and each floor has an altar with statues of the Buddha. People call this Phật trung hữu Phật, which means Buddha within Buddha.

The statue faces the sea. The fishermen of Da Nang believe that the bodhisattva stands there to protect the boats heading out to sea.

The courtyard holds 18 stone statues of arhats, enlightened disciples of the Buddha. Each one has its own expression and bearing. From the courtyard, the whole of Da Nang Bay spreads out below.

Da Nang has three different pagodas named Linh Ứng. This one, on Sơn Trà, has the 67-meter statue of Quan Thế Âm. The second, at Ngũ Hành Sơn, stands on the peak called Thủy Sơn. The third stands on the summit of Bà Nà Mountain, with a 27-meter statue of Shakyamuni Buddha. Three places, each with its own character.

The road then climbs to Bàn Cờ, or Chessboard Peak. At 693 meters, it is the second-highest point on the peninsula. The winding mountain road leads up into open sky. From the top, the eye takes in all of Da Nang Bay, the city's shoreline, and the deep green Trường Sơn range to the west. On clear days, the view reaches as far as Cù Lao Chàm Island, faint and far out at sea. On the summit sits a small stone statue of Đế Thích, playing a game of chess. Folk legend says this chess-playing immortal came down to the mountain to play here for his own amusement. It is a lovely tale handed down through the generations, not a recorded event.

For many people, the main reason to come to Sơn Trà is the red-shanked douc. Its scientific name is Pygathrix nemaeus. People call it the queen of primates, because its coat has as many as five colors. It has a black head and a yellow face. Its body is gray, its forearms are white, and its lower legs are reddish brown. In all the world, this species survives only in Vietnam, Laos and northeastern Cambodia, along the Trường Sơn range. In 2017, when Da Nang hosted the APEC summit, the red-shanked douc was chosen as the symbol of the city's biodiversity.

The best chance of seeing them is early in the morning, while the forest is still wet with dew, or late in the afternoon. They are most often seen in the forest along Hoàng Sa Road, on the stretch above Mũi Nghê. Visitors wait in silence. Then, without warning, a shape in five colors swings from branch to branch right overhead, as light as the wind. In that moment, everyone holds their breath.

As evening falls, the Sơn Trà Peninsula returns to its stillness. The pure white statue of Quan Thế Âm still stands there, its back against the green mountain, its face turned to the wide open sea. Below the statue, fishing boats head out to sea one after another. They carry a quiet faith that a hand is watching over them, sheltering them on the open ocean. That is Sơn Trà, a green lung reaching into the sea, where old forest, ocean and human hearts meet. It stands there still, as time goes by.