Quy Chau - The charm of a high mountain range

Experience Hoa Tien community tourism

About 140km northwest of Vinh City, Quy Chau - the central land of the ancient Quy Phu still retains many wild and peaceful features. With the advantage of natural landscape, rich historical and cultural traditions, Quy Chau district is focusing on developing Hoa Tien community tourism site to become an increasingly worthy destination, becoming an attractive destination with diverse types of tourism, best meeting the needs of tourists.

Tourists experience brocade weaving village in Hoa Tien, Quy Chau.

Hoa Tien is an ancient Thai village with 98% of the Thai ethnic people living peacefully by the poetic Hieu River. The village has 386 households with more than 300 stilt houses. The stilt houses in Hoa Tien are maintained in the original traditional architecture. In the village, there are currently 10 households upgraded to community homestays that are qualified to serve tourists with meals, accommodation and experiences. At the community homestays, there are also stalls selling traditional products such as brocade, rattan trays, chairs, bedding, pillows, Thai mattresses, water wheels. Some also have accompanying tourism services such as buffalo carts, rafting on streams, fishing streams...

Ms. Nguyen Hong Thuong, a tourist from Hanoi, shared: “Hoa Tien is one of the attractive community tourism destinations on weekends with many interesting experiences and relatively low costs. My trips to the village are usually with my family and friends. The best thing about coming here is to visit the lake area, experience the culture of sleeping in stilt houses, enjoy traditional cultural performances, watch the waterwheels, and experience traditional craft village tourism activities…”.

Unlike the way of doing community tourism in many localities, in Hoa Tien, the main tourism products are still preserved such as water wheels. This is a unique creative product of the highland residents, occupying an important position and role in the agricultural production life of the people here.

Coming to Hoa Tien community tourism village, visitors will have the opportunity to stop in the village to enjoy the local culinary culture associated with unique and different specialties of Quy Chau district such as: duck, beef, moc, pickled bamboo shoots, canh ot, grilled fish, sour meat, sour fish, pickled bamboo shoots, hill chicken, canh taro, bamboo rice, dipping sauces... The tourism workers here also build tours to guide the preparation of dishes according to traditional culture, creating novelty for guests, especially international guests.

Experience community tourism in Hoa Tien village. Photo: PV

In 2021, the Hoa Tien community tourism site was recognized by the People's Committee of Nghe An province as a 4-star OCOP village at the provincial level. In addition, Hoa Tien has long been famous for its majestic Bua Cave and Chieng Ngam Temple, where King Bao Dai once stopped to visit. Therefore, there are tours of French and Belgian tourists and some individual tourists who regularly visit. In particular, recently, tourism activities in the area continue to welcome many groups of visitors, experiencers and accommodation from many provinces and cities in the country and internationally.

Developing worthy tourism

Coming to Quy Chau, visitors not only experience the life in the ancient Thai village of Hoa Tien but also visit the scenic spot Hang Bua in Chau Tien commune. The cave has two large caves (Tham Om) located in the Northwest, and a small cave (Tham Noi) located in the Southeast. In front of the large cave, there are two rocks that look like two frogs guarding the cave entrance. Going deep into the cave, visitors will admire the stalactites with vivid shapes. Every spring, young and old, men and women from all over gather at Hang Bua to attend the festival and participate in activities such as throwing con, jumping on bamboo poles, shooting crossbows, walking on stilts, immersing themselves in the flowing songs, and enjoying the unique dishes of Phu Quy.

In addition to visiting the scenic spot Hang Bua, tourists can also visit scenic spots such as Chieng Ngam Temple; Tham Om Cave; Historical relic of apple tree and tomb of General Lang Van Thiet; Khe Ban waterfall; Ta Ngoi waterfall; climbing Pha Xang mountain; visiting Quy Chau Ethnic Museum...

In particular, to facilitate tourists when coming to attractive tourist destinations in the area, Quy Chau district has formed the tour "Back to the ancient land of Quy Chau". The tour has a duration of 2 days 1 night with the schedule: Quy Chau red rock area, Khe Ban waterfall (Chau Binh commune) - Quy Chau district ethnic culture museum (Tan Lac town) - Hoa Tien community tourism village - Chieng Ngam temple - Hang Bua (Chau Tien).

Hoa Tien village is known as one of the most famous and oldest brocade weaving and embroidery cradles of the Thai people in Nghe An. Photo courtesy of Thanh Phuc.

In addition, Quy Chau district is interested in investing in developing tourism products, prioritizing products with unique characteristics, exploiting traditional cultural values. In 2021, 11 products were registered as trademarks, including: Pu Huong mu tun wine, Pu Huong green lim mushroom wine, Pu Huong yellow flower tea, Pu Huong natural honey, salted bamboo shoots, dried bamboo shoots, sausages, beef jerky, buffalo jerky, pork jerky, sour meat. Registered for provincial-level OCOP product appraisal for 04 products, including: Mu tun wine, green lim mushroom wine, yellow flower tea, Pu Huong natural honey.

Mr. Le Thanh Ha - Vice Chairman of Quy Chau District People's Committee said: "In the Resolution of the Quy Chau District Party Congress for the 2021 - 2026 term, it is emphasized that tourism is identified as one of the "3 breakthroughs" of the district.

A corner of Tan Lac Town (Quy Chau). Photo: Ke Kien

Therefore, in order to develop Quy Chau tourism to its full potential, in the coming time, the district will focus resources to complete the Museum of Culture of Western Nghe An ethnic groups in Quy Chau district; Initial investment in infrastructure of some scenic areas in the area such as Khe Ban waterfall, Khe My waterfall, Hoa Tien community tourism village to be ready to welcome tourists, thereby promoting the image and attracting investment for tourism; At the same time, invest in upgrading the Apple Tree Relic Site and the tomb of General Lang Van Thiet in Chau Hoi commune; Review the master plan of Hang Bua Relic Site and Chieng Ngam Temple to make appropriate adjustments, and do a good job of investment preparation.

In addition, the district coordinates with local press and radio agencies to develop promotional programs and build the district's tourism image; Open training courses and foster tourism skills in the area and continue to develop local products to serve tourists when they come to Quy Chau.