Mu Cang Chai district’s Culture and Tourism Week was launched on
September 25 in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai, attracting
a large number of local residents and tourists.
The tourism
festival is organised during the rice harvest season between September
and October each year, in a bid to honour the stunning beauty of the
national heritage of Mu Cang Chai’s terraced fields and the unique
cultures of ethnic groups in the district. It is also expected to
increase public awareness of the value of historical preservation and
strengthen tourism linkages in Vietnam’s northwestern region.
This year’s festival hosts a series of events, including a mobile cinema
and library; tours of the terraced rice fields; fashion shows
showcasing traditional costumes; displays of traditional tool-, wine-
and instrument-making processes; rice cake pounding; and brocade
weaving.
Visitors can also visit a mountainous fair with 14
stalls selling local products and specialties, such as rice cakes and
traditional herbal medicine made by the ethnic H’mong people.
The culture and tourism week running until September 30 marks the 57th
anniversary of the founding of Mu Cang Chai district (October 18, 1957)
and World Tourism Day (September 27).
Mu Cang Chai is one of
the most popular destinations in the northwest, for both domestic and
international tourists, due primarily to the spectacular beauty of its
terraced rice fields, which have been cultivated by the H’mong people
for centuries.
The fields are visible from virtually everywhere
in the district, covering an area of over 2,200ha. The 500ha of fields
surrounding the villages in Che Cu Na, La Pan Tan and De Xu Phinh
communes were recognised as national heritage sites in 2007 by the
Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism.-VNA