Say Da Nang and many picture fireworks, beaches, and bustling night markets. That same city began selling the very opposite product on July 25, 2026: a tea gathering atop a 700-meter peak that welcomes just six people at a time. Rather than drawing crowds for a lively scene, it limits numbers to deliver quiet—Da Nang's pivot toward higher per-person value shows in this small tour.
Atop 700 m Ban Co Peak, welcoming just six guests twice a day, outside regular hours
According to a July 25, 2026 report by Viet Nam News, this tea tour is held at the summit of Ban Co Peak (Ban Co) on Da Nang's Son Tra Peninsula. At 700 meters, it is a spot locals call 'the roof of Da Nang.' Each session takes up to six people. It runs twice a day, set outside the usual hours for entering the mountain, with tea in the morning timed to sunrise and in the evening to sunset. It is run by the committee that manages the Son Tra Peninsula and Da Nang's tourist beaches together with city authorities, and the launch was timed to the 'Enjoy Da Nang Festival 2026' period. An official explains that the tour lets guests savor sunrise and sunset, the most beautiful moments of the day, amid quiet nature.
The idea came in March 2024, from the afternoon tea Bill Gates enjoyed on the mountaintop
The tour was sparked by Bill Gates visiting this peak in March 2024 and enjoying an afternoon tea. One of the world's richest people chose, not a bustling resort, but a quiet 700-meter summit for his tea—and that fact made locals rediscover the place's value. The views and the facilities themselves had existed for years. What changed was a design that carved it out as "six people, off-hours, with ceremony," adding scarcity. Bring tour groups up the same peak by large bus and it's merely a viewpoint, but limit the numbers and the scenery becomes an experience you have to yourself. The story of "the place Bill Gates visited" works too. Celebrity visits tend to be fleeting, but Da Nang translated it into a permanent product you can relive in a group of six.
From crowd-drawing fireworks and glowing kites to a focus on per-person value and satisfaction
Da Nang has, until now, competed on easy-to-grasp crowd appeal. It draws audiences from around the world with its international fireworks festival, and on the beach at night,500 glowing kites take flighthas drawn crowds with large-scale attractions like this. But crowd-driven tourism inevitably carries congestion and price competition, and a place anyone can reach tends to become "a place chosen only if it's cheap." This tea tour bets on the opposite side: the cap of six guests per session targets not maximum revenue but higher price points and satisfaction. Even within Da Nang, early in the morningPull nets with the fishermen and eat squid noodles on the beachA humble, cheap experience like that and a summit tea gathering differ entirely in price range and clientele. It is a move by a single city to stock both an everyman experience and upscale tranquility at once.
Thai Nguyen tea masters bring the region's rituals, and all, to the summit
Serving the tea are masters of Suong Mai Tea from Thai Nguyen Province. From preparing the pot to pouring the water, serving and sipping, they demonstrate the full traditional etiquette while talking through Vietnam's tea culture. That the star is tea rather than coffee is central to the experience. Vietnam's image is dominated by coffee, but Thai Nguyen is one of the country's leading tea regions, with a foundation of green-tea culture. In Hanoi,One of China's leading tea chains lands for the first timeWhile casual tea drinks aimed at young people spread, on Da Nang's peak a traditional tea accompanied by handcrafted ceremony rises as a high-value product. Rather than selling tea leaves as a souvenir, showing "who brews it and how" binds a distant region's artisans and a tourist site into a single experience.
Devote a whole slot to sunrise or sunset, and bring a layer and comfortable walking shoes
If you're after this tour, first keep in mind how small the six-person slot is. The two daily sessions timed to sunrise and sunset, held outside normal hours, don't mesh with an itinerary that visits the mountain during regular sightseeing times. You'll need to plan on devoting the whole early morning or evening to the experience. Because weather greatly changes how the sunrise and sunset look, a schedule with enough slack to pick a clear day is ideal. The summit is windy and cools off easily even by day, so bring a layer to throw on and wear comfortable walking shoes. Access to Da Nang keeps improving, and from JapanVietnam Airlines Flies 11 Weekly Flights to Da Nangand other direct options are expanding. Since fares and booking methods are still in flux right after the launch, the surest step is to check the latest information from the Son Tra Peninsula management committee or Da Nang's official tourism channels before visiting.
