Dragon fruit garden at night becomes a strange phenomenon in the eyes of foreign visitors

From the height of an airplane, foreign tourists see dragon fruit gardens lit up at night as colorful cubes standing out against a black background.

Brad Stewart posted a video of himself looking out of an airplane window during a night flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Australia in September, attracting more than 14 million views on the Tik Tok platform. The video recorded a scene of colorful blocks glowing in the night, which Brad Stewart described as "not knowing what it was" and asked the online community to explain.

Dragon fruit garden at night becomes a strange phenomenon in the eyes of foreign visitors — Foreign tourists captured the scene of a dragon fruit garden at night on a flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne, September 2023. Video: *Brad Stewart*

In response to the male tourist's question, nearly 7,000 comments from netizens explained. Similar to Brad Stewart, many foreigners also wondered about this strange sight. Some people thought it was confetti. Jebediah Spoonbill commented that it was a bowling mat. Some people could not guess exactly what the object was, but from the height of the plane, it looked like colorful sticky notes.

The video also attracted many Vietnamese interactions. Accounts from Vietnam all confirmed that the strange scene was dragon fruit fields lit up at night. The location where the plane passed over could be in Binh Thuan province. Brad Stewart expressed surprise and sent thanks after his questions were answered.

Passing through the districts of Ham Thuan Bac, Ham Thuan Nam or Bac Binh, visitors can see long stretches of dragon fruit gardens. Some dragon fruit gardens such as Ham My commune garden, Ham Thuan Nam district are also open for visitors to visit and experience. The dragon fruit garden in Ham My commune is about 30 km from Mui Ne, Phan Thiet city.

Mr. Phan Van Tan, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Binh Thuan, said that the whole province grows about 27,000 hectares of dragon fruit, yielding over 500,000 tons per year. Cultivated naturally, dragon fruit only produces fruit during the rainy season from May to October. To produce fruit in the off-season, garden owners must turn on electric lights in the garden. A dragon fruit garden can use off-season lights 2-3 times a year. At night, the gardens are lit up, and from the height of an airplane, you can see colorful shapes like in the video posted by Brad Stewart.

Dragon fruit garden in Ham My commune, Ham Thuan Nam district, lit up at night, November 2023. Photo: Viet Quoc — Dragon fruit garden in Ham My commune, Ham Thuan Nam district, lit up at night, November 2023. Photo: *Viet Quoc*

The technique of using lights to stimulate dragon fruit to bear fruit off-season has been applied by farmers in Binh Thuan since around the 1990s. At that time, a farmer in Ham Thuan Bac district accidentally installed a light bulb to warm a flock of ducks in the garden, and unexpectedly discovered that the dragon fruit pillars nearby were flowering. Since then, local growers have begun to apply the technique of using lights in off-season production, producing fruit all year round. After traditional incandescent lights, farmers have switched to compact lamps and now LED lights, which consume more electricity and are more energy efficient.

Dragon fruit was also a keyword that created a stir in the online community last year when a food company launched dragon fruit instant noodles. The lyrics "the first time dragon fruit in instant noodles" to advertise this product appeared in videos on many social media platforms, attracting millions of views.

Bich Phuong

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