Thanh Chuong Tea Islands

The tea hills at Thanh Chuong in Nghe An were planted on rolling ground that was later partly flooded when the Cau Cau reservoir was built for irrigation - the water filled the valleys and left the planted hilltops standing above it as a scatter of green islands, each one a rounded mound of tea rows surrounded by still water. The effect was accidental. Boats are hired at the shore to go between them, and the standard photograph is at dawn with mist on the surface. The tea is worked normally; the islands are picked by people who come out by boat.

What you actually see

• Tea hills turned into islands - by a reservoir flooding the valleys.
• Rounded mounds of tea rows - each one a separate island.
• Boats between them - hired at the shore.
• Picking by boat - the hills are worked normally.

When to go

Year round; dawn for the mist. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Boat hire is informal and negotiated. The effect depends on the reservoir level, which changes with the season and with irrigation. Nghe An is off the main routes. There are no facilities at the shore.

Nearby

Vinh is east; the Truong Son range and Laos are west.