The Tu Linh boat racing festival (Photo: tienphong.vn)

The Tu Linh (four mythological creatures – dragon, white tiger, tortoise, phoenix) boat racing festival on Ly Son Island was first held in 1826.
It takes place around the Lunar New Year festival to pray for good weather, bumper crops, and peace.

It is also meant to pay tribute to ancestors who explored this land, as well as the then Hoang Sa flotilla that planted sovereignty markers on Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos.