Hoi An ancient city, the central province of Quang Nam, plans torestore 80 ancient wells, most of them locate on the north bank of theDe Vong River near the Thanh Ha pottery village.

Built in the15th century by the Cham people, most of the city's ancient wells areunusable or buried underground due to rapid urbanisation, said NguyenChi Trung, Director of Hoi An's Centre for Monuments Management andPreservation.

Trung said the plan would render usable severalwells near the old town, including those at Kazik Park, the house of theNguyen Tuong royal family at 658 Hai Ba Trung Street, and Am Hon Temple(built to worship the souls of the dead).

A list of 80 ancient wells in the town was released in 2009, but no preservation has yet been done.

Vo Hong Viet, a researcher at the centre, said the round top and square bottom of the wells reflected traditional Cham style.

"Wellswere built without mortar or adhesive material, so underground waterleaked into the wells easily and kept them full of water, even in thedry season," Viet said.

Some restaurant owners still buy waterfrom ancient wells to make specialties like cao lau (noodles withroasted pork) and my Quang (local rice noodles with pork and shrimp).

The Ba Le Well is the most visited by tourists.

Rapidmodernisation and modern lifestyles are threatening the survival of theancient Cham culture and other ethnic traditions in Quang Nam province,home to UNESCO world heritage sites Hoi An and My Son Sanctuary andworld biosphere reserve Cham Island.

Hoi An alone hosted 1.7 million tourists last year with total revenue of 98 billion VND (4.6 million USD).-VNA