In a secluded valley surrounded by mountains in Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam province Central Vietnam, 69 km southwest of Da Nang, located My Son - the most valuable inheritance of the Chams, the masterpiece which has been recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site in 1999 as an example of evolution and change in culture, and as evidence of an Asian civilization which is now extinct.

Many travelers start their My Son trip by a visit to Cham Museum in Danang, where displayed the collections of female dancers statues, genies and animal worshipped artifacts as well as daily communal activities sculptures. The collections highlight typical carving and sculpture of the Cham people. However, the delicate Cham decoration is just part of the wonders that My Son is to offer.

The establishment of My Son dated back in the 4th century, when King Bhadresvara started the very first wooden temples dedicated to God Shiva. In the 7th century, King Sambhuvarman had it rebuilt, using more durable materials. During seven centuries (7th to 14th century), successive Cham kings, when enthroned, had their temple-towers constructed as offerings to their gods; turning My Son into a cultural, and religious center of the kingdom. My Son was then a complex of constructions, including temple-towers and stela of different architectural styles. Though the temples bear the identity of different historical period, which leads to the diversified architecture style and decoration of the relics, they have things in common. All temples were built on a quadrate foundations, each includes a solid tower base, representing the world of human beings, the mysterious and sacred tower body, representing the world of spirits, and the tower top built in the shape of a man offering flowers and fruits or of trees, birds, animals, etc., representing things that are close to the spirits and human beings.

A number of up to 70 temple-towers were listed in the early report by French about My Son; however, time and war together have taken their toll on these relics. Currently only 20 temple-towers remain almost intact, many were reduced to ruined; some of them, including the legendary A1 tower, were bombed to destroyed during American War. Bomb craters are still clearly visible within the relic.

A major restoration project has been underway in My Son, yet modern study has never revealed the real secret inside the brick walls of the temples. The material used to connect the two bricks together is remained an unanswered question. Some claimed that the Chams has arranged the unbaked bricks together, and then baked the tower as a whole. Other suggests the use of the sap from a local tree called dau rai. The others believed that Cham people grind the faces of the baked brick to keep it stick it together during construction. Whatever the secret is, it is such an amazing technique that keeps the tower to stand centuries long in the violent sunlight and rainfall of the central Vietnam.