Wall art is the latest thing in a village on an island in Quảng Nam Province.

The village on Tam Hải Island is changing from a fishing village to an art village that tourists will visit.

Pictures painted on walls are of ocean fish and coconuts being carried by motorbike.

While the walls on Tam Hải Island are looking prettier, there is a problem with many of the island’s beaches that are not looking prettier because people throw their rubbish on to them.

QUẢNG NAM — A group of 25 volunteers from Đà Nẵng Technology College and other colleges have begun their efforts to transform a fishing village of Tam Hải Island into an art space for tourism development.

Volunteer team leader Phạm Văn Thiện told Việt Nam News that the team would create nearly 20 colourful murals on moss-covered walls of household in the Dừa (coconut palm) village over the next two weeks.

Thiện said the voluntary programme aimed to raise awareness among local residents on environment and beach protection on the island.

He said local villagers continued to release rubbish on the beach, due to a lack of garbage treatment plants in the area.

Paintings showcasing on marine species and fishing lifestyle of the island would go on display from next week.

The island, home to 8,000 population, hosts 700 visitors on an average weekend.

Visitors can easily reach the island via a five-minute boat trip from Núi Thành District, 20km south of Quảng Nam Province’s Tam Kỳ City.

Last year, Tam Thanh fishing village in Tam Kỳ City of Quảng Nam Province was the first village in Việt Nam to introduce a community-based art space for tourism development.  

Quảng Nam Province has launched a sea route tour in connection of the Chàm Island, off the coast of Hội An, and Lý Sơn Island in Quảng Ngãi Province as a new tour service.

In 2015, the French-influenced Le Domaine De Tam Hải Resort on the Island was given the 2015 Certificate of Excellence by the travel website TripAdvisor.  

The 10ha romantic resort has 11 identical villas scattered between coconut palms, each with a private terrace and a view of the sea. — VNS

GLOSSARY

A group of 25 volunteers from Đà Nẵng Technology College and other colleges have begun their efforts to transform a fishing village of Tam Hải Island into an art space for tourism development.

Volunteers are people who do jobs without expecting to be paid.

To transform something means to change something from being one thing into being something else.

Volunteer team leader Phạm Văn Thiện told Việt Nam News that the team would create nearly 20 colourful murals on moss-covered walls of household in the Dừa (coconut palm) village over the next two weeks.

Murals are pictures that are painted on walls.

Moss is a plant that often grows on old trees, stones and on old buildings.

Thiện said the voluntary programme aimed to raise awareness among local residents on environment and beach protection on the island.

To raise awareness means to make people know more about something and to remember it better.

Residents of a place are people who live there.

He said local villagers continue to release rubbish on the beach, due to a lack of garbage treatment plants in the area.

Garbage treatment plants are places where rubbish that is thrown away is sorted so that stuff that can be used again is put on one side and stuff that cannot is set aside can be got rid of.

Paintings showcasing on marine species and fishing lifestyle of the island would go on display from next week.

Showcasing means displaying.

Marine means from the sea. Species are types of plants and animals.

Visitors can easily reach the island via a five-minute boat trip from Núi Thành District, 20km south of Quảng Nam Province’s Tam Kỳ City.

Via means “by way of”.

Quảng Nam Province has launched a sea route tour in connection of the Chàm Island, off the coast of Hội An, and Lý Sơn Island in Quảng Ngãi Province as a new tour service.

To launch a tour means to officially start it.

The 10ha romantic resort has 11 identical villas scattered between coconut palms, each with a private terrace and a view of the sea.

10ha stands for ten hectares. A hectare is a unit in which the size of land is measured.

If two or more things are identical they look exactly the same.

A villa is a luxury house, usually used by people on holiday.

Scattered means situated all over the place in what seems to be a random rather than an organised way.

WORKSHEET

Find words that mean the following in the Word Search:

1. The number of minutes the boat trip takes to the island from Núi Thành District.
2. A type of fruit that grows on palm trees.
3. A type of plant that can grow on a wall.
4. People who live in villages.
5.  Stuff that unfortunately lands up on the island’s beaches.

ANSWERS:

© Duncan Guy/Learn the News/ Viet Nam News 2017

1. Five; 2. Coconut;  3. Moss; 4. Villagers; 5. Rubbish.