Situated in Danang City, Cham Museum was constructed in 1915 to display a diverse collection of sculptures and art works of Champa, which is one of the first Vietnamese empires founded more than 1,800 years ago. The studies show that Champa’s main administration is set around the Mekhong Delta area in the south of Vietnam. However, it is the central region near Danang where a lot of temple ruins and sculptures are excavated.

Currently, the museum exhibits more than 300 sandstone, lintels, terra-cotta sculptures and statues of Hindu gods and deities. Visitors will have a chance to admire eight centuries of evolution of Champa kingdom from 7th to 15th century.

One of its masterpieces shown in this museum is the Tra Kieu Altar. The altar is a symbol of God Siva, the creator and destroyer of the universe, according to Hinduism. The base of the altar is beautifully carved to tell the story of Hindu mythology. Other interesting pieces of arts shown here are statues of Champa kings with vigorous and exaggerated style of imposing appearances.

My Son
My Son was a centre of Cham or Champa Kingdom between the 4th and 13th centuries. The kingdom is founded in the area around Danang. It had commercial and religious contacts with India over the centuries, acquiring Indian culture, language, religious belief (Hinduism) and aesthetics.

The temples of My Son are found about 60 kilometres south of Danang. All of temple ruins here are very similar to buildings at Angkor Wat in Cambodia and some religious shrines in Thailand and Laos. The Hindu towers are built from brown bricks and sandstones but the method is still a mystery. Nevertheless, some anthropologists suggest that the bricks are glued together by a kind of tree resin available in Vietnam. It is believed that the whole building is baked in fire for days before it is given details.

Here, dozens of temple ruins in different styles nestle in a verdant valley. All of the Cham towers have quadrate foundations. Each tower has three parts: a tower base, signifying the human world; the mysterious and sacred tower, representing the spiritual world, and the tower top built in the shape of a man offering flowers and fruits, birds, animals, etc., showing things that are close to the spirits and human beings. A lot of temples are broken during the American war in 1970s but some still maintain its beauty. My Son is registered by UNESCO as a world heritage site.

Son Tra Peninsula
Son Tra Peninsula is situated 10 km northeast of Danang city. It is regarded a special gift from God. The peninsula looks like a mushroom with its peak of 693meters above the sea level. The cap of the mushroom is Son Tra Mountain or Monkey Mountain and its stalk is the white sandy beach that affords an ideal area for bathing, playing sports, fishing and swimming. Son Tra mountain is the natural preservation area with various kinds of plants and animals. On this mountain, there still remain more than 30sq. km of natural forests, nearly 300 types of plants and several hundred kinds of fauna, including rare animal. At its foot, there is also Suai Da Stream. At the quiet Bai But, there are groups of small, nice-looking houses, where people can sit for hours to hear the sound of waves and enjoy the view of the mountain from afar.

Marble Mountain
Marble Mountain offers the subtle and poetical ambience full with pagodas, grottoes, trees, mixed sounds of pagoda bells, murmuring waves and sea. Almost two hundred years ago, King Minh Mang came here and named the mountain, grottoes and pagodas around the area. These are natural grottoes and pagodas that reflect well of the harmony of natural and man-made beauty. Many cultural and historical stamps have the pictures of these 19th century pagodas and towers and the 14th and 15th century Champa sculptures printed on them.