originally, Cha Pa was created for medical purposes: the bracing climate of Cha Pa was beneficial to westerners exhausted by a long stay in Vietnam, especially people with chlorosis, post-infectious anemia, previous history of malaria, and a whole array of neurotics: people with neurasthenia, phobia, overworked people or hypochondriac women. Certain diseases, such as chronic bronchitis with associated emphysema or asthma and certain skin diseases could also be cured. The military sanatorium, completed in 1913, was built on the hill on which the municipal cistern and its pumping station now still stands.