THỪA THIÊN-HUẾ — Huế lit up the historic flag tower Kỳ Đài in the citadel built by the Nguyễn Dynasty (1802-1945) on Monday.

The tower will now be lit up every night with 1,000 LED lights.

Phan Thanh Hải, director of the local government’s Huế Monuments Conservation Centre, which manages the dynasty’s relic system, said the light-up programme was to attract more visitors to Huế, the former imperial capital city of Việt Nam.

“Tourists to the city have complained about the shortage of night activities, and the city is known to ‘sleep early’. Therefore, we installed lights at the tower to turn Huế into a nocturnal beauty,” he said, adding that the centre had a roadmap to light up more monuments at night.

Lights at the tower can change colour, making the tower light up in either monocolour or multicolour. While many locals have welcomed the illumination, some consider the colourful lighting a stark contrast to the greyish white of the tower.

The centre has also installed four canon-like fire guns at the tower, which can fire real shots. According to Hải, the gun designs resemble the canons created by the dynasty, some of which are located on and behind the tower.

Hải said the guns were safe and ran on diesel – each shot uses some two litres of fuel.

The centre has previously lit up the former imperial palace and introduced entertainment activities to attract visitors in the evening. The programme – Imperial Palace by Night – has been running since April last year and helps Huế attract thousands of tourists.

The Kỳ Đài Tower, which was built in 1807 for observation and signalling with flags, consists of three pyramidal platforms, some canons and a large flagpole.

It was at this tower that flags were changed in 1945, ending the imperial regime in the country. — VNS