Da Nang seeks UNESCO mixed World Heritage status for Ngu Hanh Son Mountains

The municipal administration said on Monday that a municipal delegation had met with Lazare Eloundou Assomo, director of the UNESCO World Heritage Centre, to discuss the nomination.

At the meeting, Nguyen Thi Anh Thi, vice-chairwoman of the Da Nang administration, said the city was planning to prepare the nomination dossier.

Da Nang asked the UNESCO World Heritage Centre and international consultants to assist in establishing the case for the site's outstanding universal value, helping connect the city with international experts in karst landscapes, archaeology and documentary heritage, and providing guidance on global comparative analysis and the use of heritage impact assessment tools.

The Ngu Hanh Son Mountains have long been a symbol and a popular tourist attraction in Da Nang. The site welcomed more than two million visitors in 2025.

The Ngu Hanh Son Mountains were recognized as a special national relic by the prime minister in 2018, while an overall plan for their conservation, restoration and rehabilitation was approved in 2023.

Under Vietnam's 2024 Law on Cultural Heritage, the 1972 World Heritage Convention and its Operational Guidelines, the Da Nang administration said it had coordinated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to identify and protect six outstanding universal values of the Ngu Hanh Son Mountains, including four cultural and two natural criteria.

The city identifies the site's cultural values in its history of cultural exchange and assimilation; traces of settlement and religious practices associated with the Sa Huynh, Champa and Dai Viet cultures; and its system of historical and archaeological sites, the Non Nuoc stone-carving craft and the ma nhai inscriptions, a system of Chinese and Nom inscriptions carved into rock, which hold particular historical, literary, religious, linguistic and cultural significance.

In particular, 78 Chinese and Nom inscriptions carved into rock faces and caves at the Ngu Hanh Son Mountains were inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Regional Register for Asia-Pacific in 2022.

The site also represents an intersection of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and Mother Goddess worship, traditions that have been maintained through community religious practices and festivals.

In terms of natural values, the Ngu Hanh Son Mountains comprise six marble peaks rising from coastal sand dunes and connected with the Co Co River, the sea and a system of natural caves.

The complex also has geological and geomorphological significance, reflecting karstification and changes in the coastline during the Quaternary period.

The site currently encompasses several recognized forms of heritage.

The ma nhai inscriptions are recognized as documentary heritage; the Ngu Hanh Son Mountains complex is a special national relic; the Non Nuoc stone-carving village has been recognized as national intangible cultural heritage; a group of seven ancient trees has been recognized as Vietnam Heritage Trees; and the Quan The Am Ngu Hanh Son Festival has been recognized as one of Vietnam's 15 major national festivals and as national intangible cultural heritage.

Da Nang has outlined a three-stage process for preparing the nomination dossier.

In the first stage, the city will complete a draft nomination summary and submit it to the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for consideration before seeking the prime minister's approval to send the dossier to the World Heritage Centre and have the Ngu Hanh Son Mountains added to Vietnam's tentative list.

The city will then participate in the initial consultation process and undergo a preliminary assessment before completing the official nomination dossier and an overall management plan for submission to the World Heritage Committee for consideration.