Da Lat stops construction of unauthorized glass bridge

The 220-meter-long and two-meter-wide bridge between the Valley of Love and Mong Mo (dreamy) Hill, which hangs 28 meters above the ground, is almost complete.

But the decision to suspend construction by Thanh Thanh Cong Lam Dong Tourism JSC in Da Lat was made on Monday after local authorities realized approval had not been given for the bridge.

By that time workers had already started arranging the cable system.

The builders have also installed a metal framework for building a waiting room for visitors. They cut down six pine trees also without permission.

Thanh Thanh Cong Lam Dong Tourism has been fined VND40 million ($1,724) and given 60 days to submit a license, or the construction will be seized by the authorities.

The company is now the concessionaire operating the Valley of Love, a popular tourist attraction and declared a national landscape site by the government.

Thanks to its cool climate year round since it is situated at an altitude of 1,500 meters above sea level and beautiful scenery, Da Lat is adored by both Vietnamese and foreign visitors.

In the first nine months of last year 5.1 million people visited the town, up 10.6 percent year-on-year, including 663,000 foreigners.