Early morning in the heart of the coastal city
At about 5:30 am, when the sun had not yet fully set, the sandy strip along Nguyen Tat Thanh beach (Thanh Khe ward, Da Nang) was already bustling in a very unique way. Dozens of people brought small shovels, dug shallow damp sand pits and lay down, burying themselves in the warm sand, only exposing their heads and chests. They applied it for 30 minutes to more than an hour, before getting up to bathe and wash it clean. This is a spontaneous habit that has existed for many years of local people, mainly the elderly.
Ms. Doan Thi Loi (Lien Chieu ward) is one of them. She said that before, because of leg and knee pain for many years, she could hardly walk. But since knowing how to apply sand, her health has improved significantly.
My legs are tense and less aching, I eat well and sleep well. If I'm in Da Nang and don't take advantage of it, my health will be wasted," Ms. Loi said. She has been applying it since 2024, regularly every day. She also emphasized that applying sand does not replace medicine but is a combination, both using medicine and applying sand to become healthier.
Ms. Pham Thi Nhu Ly (An Khe ward) also patches sand every day, usually from 4:30 to 5 am, each time for more than an hour. "After patching sand, first of all, the spirit is relaxed, combined with taking medicine to improve further," Ms. Ly said.
From a professional perspective, Mr. Pham Duy Thanh, Chairman of the Hoa Khanh Ward Traditional Medicine Association, explained this phenomenon with knowledge of traditional medicine: "The elderly have weak bones and joints due to a lot of labor in their youth, reduced resistance, and are prone to damp air intrusion causing pain. Folk beliefs say that applying sand to "reduce dampness", eliminate toxins is the way people say it." Mr. Thanh said that he himself has also tried applying and felt the effectiveness of absorbing moisture.
Preserving the "slow" culture amidst the flow of tourism
Nguyen Tat Thanh beach does not try to compete with the splendor of key tourist beaches. It chooses its own path, where visitors can sit quietly watching the old people building sand, listening to the rhythmic sound of waves and feeling a very ordinary Da Nang.
Mr. Nguyen Van Tin, an officer of the Rescue and Relief Team of Son Tra peninsula and Da Nang tourist beaches, confirmed that this activity has been going on for a long time, almost daily and completely spontaneous. "It does not affect the environment. People only apply it in humid sand areas near the shore. Many old people previously had difficulty walking, then applied it for a while to travel normally. They feel healthy and then maintain it," he said. According to Mr. Tin, some people start from 4 am, apply it for a few hours and then swim in the sea. Some people apply it all evening even though it is considered better in the morning.
The fact that the elderly maintain the habit of applying sand and practicing health exercises every morning is proof of a healthy lifestyle, attached to nature. In the context of rapidly developing tourism, preserving such healthy and indigenous habits is not only good for community health but also contributes to building a sustainable tourism image.
