Da Lat

According to some sources, the name derives from the acronym of the Latin phrase 'Dat Aliis Laetitiam Aliis Temperiem' ("It Gives Pleasure to Some, Freshness to Others"), which the French colonial government used in their official emblem of Da Lat. In reality, the name Đà Lạt derived from the language of the local ethnic group Lạt and its original meaning is "Stream of the Lạt", and the acronym above is in fact a backcronym.

Da Lat ca. 1925

During the 1890s, explorers in the area (including the noted bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin, protégé of the renowned French chemist Louis Pasteur), which was then part of the French colony of Cochinchina, asked the French governor-general, Paul Doumer, to create a resort center in the highlands. The governor agreed. The original intended site for the hill station was Dankia, but Étienne Tardif, a member of the road-building expedition of 1898–99, proposed the current site instead. In 1907, the first hotel was built. Urban planning was carried out by Ernest Hébrard.[1]

A street of Da Lat ca. 1925

Many Europeans used to travel up to Da Lat to escape the heat of the lower coastal areas . 

The French endowed the city with villas and boulevards, and its Swiss charms remain today. Hébrard included the requisite health complex, golf course, parks, schools, and homes but no industry. The legacy of boarding schools where children from the whole of Indochina were taught by French priests, nuns, and expatriates still existed as late as 1969. In 1929, the Christian and Missionary Alliance established a school which later relocated to Bangkok, Thailand, due to the Vietnam War and has been located in Penang, Malaysia, since the 1970s. There were seminaries of Jesuits (such as Pius X Pontifical College) and other orders. The elite Vietnamese National Military Academy graduated its first class of future leaders in 1950. There was an aviation school at Cam Ly Airport.

During World War II, Da Lat was the capital of the Federation of Indochina, from 1939 to 1945.

In the mid-1950s, the Vietnamese Scout Association established their national training grounds at Da Lat.

The only major involvement Da Lat had during the Vietnam War was within the 1968 Tet Offensive. Fierce battles raged from January 31 to February 9, 1968. Most of the fighting took place between the South Vietnamese MP units stationed in Da Lat and the Việt Cộng (VC) forces. American MPs were also involved in the fighting and suffered several KIAs during a rocket attack on their compound. Defeats and victories alternated between the two during the sporadic-yet-intense battles. However, the South Vietnamese MPs were eventually able to regain control of Da Lat. It is stated that around 200 VC were killed-in-action (KIAs) during this battle. Although South Vietnamese MP forces were known to have significantly fewer KIAs, their injured list grew steadily throughout the engagement because of periods of low supplies and support. What ultimately saved the South Vietnamese MPs was the fact that they held strong defensive positions throughout Da Lat from the beginning to the end of the battles.

Xuan Huong Lake in the morning

Da Lat is located 1,500 m (4,900 ft) above sea level on the Langbian Plateau in the southern parts of the Central Highlands (in Vietnamese: Tây Nguyên).

A Vietnamese Hòn Non Bộ in front of the Art Deco-influenced Da Lat Railway Station of vernacular French architecture.

The architecture of Da Lat is dominated by the style of the French colonial period. Da Lat Railway Station, built in 1938, was designed in the Art Deco architectural style by French architects Moncet and Reveron, although it incorporates the high, pointed roofs characteristic of the Cao Nguyen communal buildings of Vietnam's Central Highlands. The three gables represent an art deco version of Normandy's Trouville-Deauville Station.[8] The station's unique design—with its roofs, arching ceiling, and coloured glass windows—earned it recognition as a national historical monument in 2001.[9][10] They designed the Lycée Yersin, which opened in 1927.[11] The Dominion of Mary Church and Convent, home to Roman Catholic nuns of the Mission of Charity, were built in 1938 with a similar pointed-roof style.

Hằng Nga guesthouse is decorated with twisting organic forms.

Of particular note is the unconventional architecture of the Hằng Nga guesthouse, popularly known as the “Crazy House”. Described as a “fairy tale house”, its overall design resembles a giant banyan tree, incorporating sculptured design elements representing natural forms such as animals, mushrooms, spider webs and caves. Its architecture, consisting of complex, organic, non-rectilinear shapes, has been described as expressionist. Its creator, Vietnamese architect Dang Viet Nga (also known as Hằng Nga), who holds a PhD in architecture from Moscow State University, has acknowledged the inspiration of Catalan Spanish architect Antoni Gaudí in the building's design. Visitors have variously drawn parallels between the guesthouse and the works of artists such as Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney.[12][13] Since its opening in 1990, the building has gained recognition for its unique architecture, having been highlighted in numerous guidebooks and listed as one of the world's ten most “bizarre” buildings in the Chinese People's Daily.[14][15] While superficially amusing, the compound is let down by the construction debris and household refuse behind the facades, and the lack of attention to safety issues.

The Third Mansion

Da Lat is also well known for a series of three Mansions of the Vietnamese Last Emperor. The First Mansion was built in 1940 by the French millionaire Robert Clément Bourgery and was bought by Emperor Bao Dai in 1949. It was used as a summer mansion for President Ngo Dinh Diem and following presidents of the Republic of Vietnam until 1975. The Second Mansion was built in 1933 as the summer mansion for Governor of French Indochina Jean Decoux. Built in 1933–1938, the Third Mansion was the residence of Emperor Bao Dai and his family. The whole mansion itself attributes to the typical European style since both its front and backyard have flower gardens.[16] The Third Mansion is currently open for tourists who wish to have a look back in time when Queen Nam Phuong resided during her lifetime.

• Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia
• Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
• Chengdu, Sichuan, China
• Dalian, Liaoning, China
• La Habana, Cuba
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Paris, France
• Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
• Incheon, South Korea
• Vientiane, Laos
• Novosibirsk, Russia
• Los Angeles, California, United States
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan
• Chiang Mai, Thailand

• Dalat Flower Festival (Festival hoa Đà Lạt)
• Dalat Tea Culture Week (Tuần lễ văn hóa trà Đà Lạt)
• Cherry Blossom Festival (Lễ hội hoa anh đào)
• "Đồi cỏ hồng" Festival
• Rain Festival (Lễ hội mưa)

Da Lat is a famous tourist city of Vietnam which was included in the list of Asia's overlooked places by the CNN in 2017. [17] Da Lat attracts both domestic tourists, more than 800,000 tourists and about 80,000 foreign tourists per year. It is also the country's favourite honeymoon location.[18]

Hoa Binh Area is the center downtown of Da Lat which attracted numerous visitors. Some popular sites located at Hoa Binh Area are Coi Xay Gio bakery, Lien Hoa bakery, Windmills coffeehouse and Tung coffeehouse. Coi Xay Gio is known as a perfect selfie spot thanks to its remarkable yellow wall.[19]

• Da Lat–Thap Cham Railway
• Dalat Palace Hotel
• Dalat International School in Penang, Malaysia, named after the city where it was originally located

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Da Lat.

• Da Lat travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Official website of the provincial government (Vietnamese)