China Beach, otherwise known as My Khe, My An and Non Nuoc beaches to the local Vietnamese in Danang who never saw the late 1980s TV series with the same name, was the site of R&R facilities for American soldiers during the Vietnam War.

Today though, American veterans from the Vietnam War era would hardly recognize the place as real estate developers are busily turning one stretch of China Beach (by the old Marble Mountain Air Facility used by the Marine Corps) into Vietnam's version of Phuket complete with casinos, 5 star hotels and luxury home and condominium developments. Meanwhile and at the other end of China Beach, a wide promenade and boulevard have been built that is gradually being lined with hotels and facilities for less well-heeled travelers (like myself) and for local Vietnamese tourists.

I ended up basing myself on China Beach for about half a week during a November 2010 trip to the Danang area after reading countless poor hotel and hostel reviews for the much more touristy Hoi An - a nearby river port whose old quarter has been designated a World Heritage Site. In fact, the owner of the small (but very clean and comfortable) Mango Hotel where I stayed a short walk from China Beach told me that there are a limited number of hotel licenses in Hoi An and hence, service there is often lacking. Moreover, I later found out that the day I arrived in Danang (still the rainy season), the water was waist high in Hoi An and they were still cleaning up the mud off the streets when I went there two days later.

However, visitors who opt to stay on China Beach should note that at the time I was there, the whole area was woefully lacking of facilities to cater to foreign visitors and backpackers especially and this was made worst by the fact that it was the low season. Specifically, nearly all of the eating places consisted of big and pricey seafood restaurants along the beach or canteens that mainly cater to locals. Furthermore and unlike coffee shops in Ho Chi Minh City, coffee shops in Danang seem to be just that - coffee shops that do not serve any food.

Luckily for me, there was a moderately priced seafood restaurant and a coffee shop that served a limited food menu within a reasonable walking distance of my hotel. Unfortunately, the coffee shop also had some water features - which attracted mosquitoes who would literally devour me every night I was there!

Hence and if you plan to base yourself on China Beach, your best bet is to rent a motorbike so that you can more easily get around Danang and visit Hoi An (which is really just a tourist trap that is worth spending about half a day in) and the nearby ruins of My Son - another World Heritage Site (cum tourist trap).

Moreover, visitors should remember that during the rainy season, roughly from June to November, Danang and China Beach's weather will tend to be overcast while the ocean itself will be rough. In fact, China Beach is best described as being a surfing rather than a swimming beach. That, along with the weather, makes me question all of the development going on there right now.

Nevertheless, Vietnam clearly intends to turn China Beach into a showplace for tourists and its one beach in Asia that will definitely be worth visiting once much of the development is completed over the next few years.

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