First ethnic culture festival of Yen The district looks to create a tourist magnet

Updated: 16:52, 15/02/2017

(BGO) - The first ethnic culture festival was held in Xuan Luong commune of Yen The district (Bac Giang province) on February 14, featuring numerous activities that attracted a large number of visitors from far and wide.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Bui Van Hai and other delegates visit a stall showcasing Xuan Luong wine. Photo: Tran Duc.

Among prominent guests were Bui Van Hai – a member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the provincial Party Committee; Nguyen Van Linh – Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee; Bui Van Hanh – Vice Standing Chairman of the provincial People’s Council; Ha Van Nui – former Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee; Vice Chairpersons of the provincial People’s Committee: Lai Thanh Son, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, and Le Anh Duong; Prof. and Dr Dang Huy Quynh – Chairman of the Vietnam Heritage Tree Council; Dr Nguyen Ngoc Sinh – Chairman of the Vietnam Association For Conservation of Nature and Environment; members of the provincial Party Committee: Le Thi Thu Hong – Chairwoman of the provincial Party Committee’s inspection board and head of the delegation of Bac Giang’s National Assembly deputies; Do Duc Ha – head of the provincial Party Committee’s communication and education board; Pham Manh Thuong – Director of the provincial Police; officials of some provincial departments and agencies, along with local residents and visitors.

This was the first time Yen The district has held a series of big cultural, sports and tourism events with unique and interesting activities, aiming to attract visitors’ massive interests. Xuan Luong was chosen playing the venue of the festival since it boasts much potential for developing ecotourism, as well as cultural, spiritual and community-based tourism. A highlight in the commune is the ecotourism site of Thac Nga, which is home to a complex of waterfalls such as Deo Nga, Deo Da and Ranh Coc. Meanwhile, the lakes of Ngac Hai, Suoi Ven and Quynh form a picturesque nature scene which is an ideal condition to bewitch tourists.

With a resolve to gradually turn Yen The into a tourism-oriented district basing on the local potential and advantages, the district administration has invested in construction, upgrade and other activities to shape a tourism complex in Xuan Luong. The tourism site of Xuan Lung-Thac Nga has then officially taken shape with a complex of the temple, pagoda, and the ancient well of Xuan Lung, the “Lim” tree which is a Vietnamese Heritage Tree, a tea farming area in Ven village, and the ecotourism area of Thac Nga.

Chairman of the district People’s Committee Vu Tri Hai said Yen The owns long-standing historical and cultural traditions which are associated with the Yen The uprising led by Hoang Hoa Tham. It is home to more than 120 historical relic sites and diverse natural landscapes – a potential for developing cultural, spiritual and ecological tourism. However, that potential has yet to be popularized and fully tapped. Most of visitors came to Yen The to work, study or do research. Meanwhile, local places of interest are still small and underdeveloped, offering simple tourism products and services. Modern entertainment areas are still absent.

The district has designed a blueprint for tourism development which aims to create tours that can keep visitors staying here for two or three days by 2020. A community-based tourism model will also be created in Ven village and the Thac Nga area. Yen The is working with relevant agencies to revamp venues of the Yen The uprising which are the special national relic site. It will also gradually restore the training area of Hoang Hoa Tham’s troops in Hom Hill of Tam Hiep commune. At the same time, the district will enhance promoting tourism and attracting investment in building infrastructure and developing hospitality and entertainment services and specialties such as “che lam” (ginger-flavoured sticky sweet cake), “banh khao” (sweet cake made of glutinous flour), forest bee honey, “keo lac” (peanut candy), Xuan Luong tea, Yen The chicken, and De Tham wine.

A wide range of distinctive and interesting activities took place at the festival like the folk game of catching wild boars, a tea party, an exhibition on local delicacies, goat fighting, tug of war, an amateur singing and dancing programme, and a contest for ethnic costume wearers.

On this occasion, delegates, locals and visitors offered incense at Xuan Lung Pagoda and took the spiritual and ecological tour of Xuan Lung – Thac Nga – Ven village. Students of the Hoang Hoa Tham junior high school in Yen The also tried harvesting and drying tea in Ven village as an extra-curricular activity.

Apart from chicken farming, Yen The also holds many favourable conditions for livestock breeding. It is raising about 8,000 goats, mostly in the communes of Hong Ky, Dong Huu, Dong Tien and Xuan Luong. Goats are popular in daily activities of Yen The residents. An initiative to organize goat fighting received strong support and enthusiastic participation from locals. This was the first time the district had held a large-scale goat fighting competition, thereby helping to enrich the local spiritual life, encouraging the conservation and development of local precious goat genes, and fostering cash crop farming and other economic activities to improve local incomes. Many tourists showed their interest in goat fighting and they hoped that the goat fighting competition will be held annually in the future.

Prof. and Dr Dang Huy Quynh, Chairman of the Vietnam Heritage Tree Council, presents the certificate recognizing the Vietnamese Heritage Tree to Chairman of the Yen The district People’s Committee.