Quang Ngai (VNA) - The island district of Ly Son, 30km off the coastof the central province of Quang Ngai, will open a night market for tourists on the island inMay.

According to Vice chairwoman of the district’s People’s Committee, the night market will be located in front of Muong Thanh LySon Hotel in An Vinh commune.

Huong said the market, which will run from 6pm until 10:30pm daily, will host40 pavilions selling souvenirs, dried seafood and specialties of the island aswell as an entertainment centre.

She said a lack of night entertainment and shopping service has hampered touristattraction.

Last year, Ly Son Island and An Binh islet hosted more than 200,000 tourists.

The island has 18 hotels, guesthouses and homestays providing accommodation for1,000 tourists at present.

The islanders of Ly Son offer local cuisine and garlic and onion farmingexperiences for tourists during a sea trip from Sa Ky port in summer.

Ly Son and a vast coastal area of Binh Son district may receive Global Geo-Parkrecognition from UNESCO.

It has been well-known as the ‘King of Garlic’ in Vietnam with 21,000inhabitants, most of whom make their living from farming garlic and springonions and fishing.


According to archaeologists, Ly Son Island is a dormant volcano. The terrain ofthe island was created from eruptions 25 to 30 million years ago, leavinglandscapes with rocks, caves, cliffs, rock arches and a lake.

The island has abundant relics related to the Sa Huynh, Champa and Dai Viet (orGreat Viet) cultures that existed on the island for thousands of years.

Islanders still preserve the annual Hoang Sa festival to pay tributes to localmen who enlisted in the Hoang Sa flotilla hundreds of years ago.

The flotilla was set up under the Nguyen dynasty to patrol the Hoang Sa(Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos and salvage goods from wrecks,catch fish and maintain a Vietnamese presence in the area.

The festival, which includes a requiem for those who had died on the sea patrolmissions, a procession of four supernatural creatures and the release oflanterns, has been recognised as the National Intangible Heritage.-VNA