VietNamNet Bridge – Lien Thanh, made by a private company in Phan Thiet town, has been recognised as the country's oldest fish sauce brand by the Viet Nam Guinness Records.

Set up in 1806, the Lien Thanh Fish Sauce Company has produced and sold its high quality nuoc mam (fish sauce), as it is called in Vietnamese, in many parts of the country.

It is thought that fish sauce was first made in Phan Thiet just two years earlier, that is in 1804.

Cultural and tourist authorities in Binh Thuan Province - of which Phan Thiet is a part - have collaborated with Vietkings to discover and list records in different fields set by Binh Thuan residents. It is meant to promote the province's tourism.

Vietkings, owned by the publishing company Vietbooks, documents Viet Nam Guinness Records set in culture, arts, literature, music and lifestyle.

"We are working to research and make public more new records set by people from Binh Thuan, enabling local and foreign visitors to learn more about the province and its history, culture, and people," Le Tran Truong An, general director of Vietbooks, said.

"Our slogan is Let the World Know More About Vietnam," said An, who has travelled to many places in Binh Thuan and worked with many local researchers and historians for the task.

Vietkings has signed a deal with its the Guinness World Records Organisation to broadcast Guinness Records programmes on TV in Vietnam.

Other records

Binh Thuan is famous as a tourist destination with its numerous hotels and resorts along the sea.

Two of its most popular sites are the Mui Ne Sand Hill and Co Thach Tourist Park, which attract thousands of visitors each year.

Mui Ne has also been mentioned in the Vietnam's Records Book for being the sand hill whose appearance was the most changed by seasonal winds.

While the Mui Ne Sand Hill is located in Phan Thiet, Co Thach is located in Tuy Phong District's Binh Thanh Commune, and has stones of different sizes and colours scattered-everywhere on the beach.

The stones are spread over an area 1.5km long and 20m wide, also recognised as a Viet Nam Guinness Record for being the largest such area.

(Source: Viet Nam News)