'Hands of God' Appear to Hold New Bridge

Ba Na Hills' Golden Bridge is a hit around the world
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 1, 2018 6:00 PM CDT
Updated Aug 2, 2018 4:03 AM CDT

Emerging from a mountainside 4,600 feet above sea level, two giant hands appear to hold a thin gold thread. Only it's not a thread at all, but a nearly 500-foot-long bridge. Cau Vang or the Golden Bridge, which recently opened in Vietnam's Ba Na Hills after about a year of construction, is the latest architectural feat to make waves around the world. As Reuters reports, it's "as if the mountain itself has sprouted limbs" of weathered stone, dotted with what appears to be green moss. They were designed to mimic the "hands of Gods, pulling a strip of gold out of the land," says Vu Viet Anh of TA Landscape Architecture in Ho Chi Minh City, which designed the new pedestrian bridge in Thien Thai Garden. Per the BBC, a second, connecting bridge of silver, to resemble a god's strand of hair, is also in the works.

The stone-colored hands made of steel mesh and fiberglass appear to hold the golden pedestrian bridge, whose supports are painted green to blend in with the treetops. "It creates a walkway in the sky, among the foggy and fairy-like lands of Ba Na mountain," says Anh, who was nonetheless surprised by the international response. Per Reuters and My Modern Met, the bridge lined with purple flowers has already hosted "scores of tourists" and a bridal fashion show since opening in June. Many more visitors are expected, as the Ba Na Hills area drew more than 2.7 million visitors last year. The attraction, which offers majestic views of Da Nang, is apparently worth the trip. "It makes me feel like humans can do anything," one tourist tells Reuters. The Guardian has photos of other unusual pedestrian walkways. (Another modern marvel: the largest cruise ship to ever set sail.)

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