The capital of the province of the same name, Quang Ngai (aka Quang Nhia or Quangai) was only officially awarded city status in 2005, so the impression of a big country town is justified. The city itself offers no obvious attractions and those few travellers that venture here generally come to pay their respects to the victims of the most famous atrocity of the American War. 

The capital of the province of the same name, Quang Ngai (aka Quang Nhia or Quangai) was only officially awarded city status in 2005, so the impression of a big country town is justified. The city itself offers no obvious attractions and those few travellers that venture here generally come to pay their respects to the victims of the most famous atrocity of the American War. Perhaps it’s the sombre mood induced by the Memorial that has caused tourists to overlook one of Vietnam’s best and least developed beaches, less than 2 kilometres away.

Even before WWII, Quang Ngai was an important centre of resistance to the French. During the Franco-Viet Minh War, the area was a Viet Minh stronghold. In 1962 the South Vietnamese government introduced its ill-fated Strategic Hamlets Program. Villagers were forcibly removed from their homes and resettled in fortified hamlets, infuriating and alienating the local population and increasing popular support for the Viet Cong. Some of the bitterest fighting of the American War took place here.

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