Ancient village to replace Kong: Skull Island film set

The village will serve as a museum for people to understand the evolution and adaptation of prehistoric humans in the Trang An tourism complex and Southeast Asia.

Earlier this month local authorities decided to dismantle the set built for Kong: Skull Island at the tourism complex to restore its natural charm.

The Kong: Skull Island film set at the Trang An tourism complex. Photo by Shutterstock.

Ninh Binh authorities had sought advice and received encouragement from UNESCO to create an ancient village. The province's Department of Tourism had also worked with experts from Cambridge University and Queen’s Belfast University in the U.K. to study the adaptation by prehistoric humans to local conditions.

UNESCO recognized Trang An as a world heritage in 2014 as "a mixed cultural and natural property where archaeological traces of human activity over 30,000 years ago have been found."

Ninh Binh received 7.3 million visitors last year, up 4.6 percent from 2017, including 876,930 foreigners. It hopes to welcome 7.6 million visitors this year.