Interesting facts about Junk Ships!  First of all, it doesn’t really mean “junk” it was “jong” and you know it was probably some foreigner who couldn’t pronounce it and we end up with junk. LOL  Junk ships in Vietnam evolved from ancient Austronesian and Chinese designs. Characterized by their keelless, flat-bottomed hulls, compartmentalized watertight bulkheads, and battened sails. During the Vietnam Conflict they had a Junk Force made up of hundreds of motorized and sail-only junks. After the fall of Saigon, thousands of Vietnamese refugees fled the country on overcrowded fishing junks and boats.     Motorized wooden junk boats serve as popular tourist attractions, like the one pictured, it’s actually a floating restaurant called Elisa and for about a million VND each you can have dinner on this beauty! Unfortunately some cities have plans to phase out traditional wooden junk boats in favor of modern, eco-friendly metal vessels to improve environmental safety and water quality. I understand the reasoning but it’s still a little sad.