Duong Lam Commune a ‘sleeping beauty’

Duong Lam Commune in Son Tay Township of Ha Noi is not well known as a tourist destination, despite having hundreds of well preserved ancient houses and 16 historic relics - of which seven are recognised as national historic monuments

Duong Lam Commune was having trouble attracting tourists because of poor promotion and lack of services, said Pham Hung Son, head of the Management Board of Duong Lam Ancient Village.

The commune is home to over 900 old houses, 57 of which are more than 200 years old. But it is still a "sleeping beauty", according to Son.

The board has organised training courses on tourism services, instructing 10 tourist guides and 10 owners of ancient houses on how to communicate with tourists. However, these tourist guides only accompany groups of tourists, while those who travel alone have no guide.

Residents say they also lack the skills needed to run a tourist enterprise successfully.

"Many visitors complain that when they visit ancient houses, the owners ask them to give money for the ancestral altar," said Son.

Ha Nguyen Huyen, owner of a 200-year-old house in Duong Lam Village, said that many residents of the village still do not know how to do business properly.

"Local authorities keep encouraging us to foster tourism in the village, but we have never been in the industry before. We cannot do it without instructions and training," said Huyen.

Son said that the number of visitors to the village has been decreasing recently. Last year, the average number of visitors to the commune every day was about 300 people, but now it is only about 40 people per day.

"Although the board has boosted advertising activities and co-operation with tourism companies, the situation has not improved," said Son.

Meanwhile, Hoi An City in Quang Nam Province - considered one of the top destinations in Viet Nam and also a preserved ancient town - regularly attracts 800 visitors a day, according to statistics supplied by the Department of Trade and Commerce in the city.

Besides various tourism services and activities, residents of the city are encouraged to attract visitors with their hospitality.

"Visitors can come and have a look in our stores, even if they don’t buy anything they will receive a friendly and warm attitude from us," said Nguyen Thu Thuy, owner of a fabric shop in Hoi An City.

Nguyen Van Lanh, head of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism in Hoi An City, said that the city’s tourism sector was fully aware that fostering tourism is based on human factors.

"Since 1993 the city has waged campaigns to encourage residents, especially those involved in the tourism sector, to develop a civilised attitude as an important skill toward attracting visitors," said Lanh.

The Duong Lam Village management board has so far failed to encourage local residents to embrace such a scheme.

"We can still make ends meet whether tourism is developed or not," said Huyen.

In February, the board started selling tickets to visitors to Duong Lam, which, according to Son, was to finance the preservation and restoration of ancient houses in the village. But, owners say, they have yet to receive a cent.

"The management board promised that owners of ancient houses would receive part of the profits, but until now we have received nothing," said Huyen.

Every day, families in the village who own ancient homes have to prepare drinks and clean their houses to welcome tourists. But they have not yet been paid.

"In the long term, we residents cannot continue this without being paid. Authorities should consider us if they want to develop tourism in the area," Huyen said.

Source: Viet Nam News

Ba Vi National Park offers ideal vacation close to Hanoi

The cool weather and beautiful panoramas of Da Lat and Sa Pa may be too far away for those who have limited time for vacation. A one-day picnic to the Ba Vi National Park might be the ideal option to escape the heat and enjoy life in the clouds.

The haven is a mere 60km or an hour and a half drive from Hanoi.

Ba Vi has been named one of four ecological tourist sites, along with Da Lat in the central highlands, and Sa Pa and Tam Dao in the north.

The National Park is centred on Mount Ba Vi, an isolated spot situated to the west of Hanoi. The mountain rises steeply out of a plain that rarely exceeds 30m in elevation. Mt Ba Vi has three peaks: the highest is Vua at 1,296m, followed by Tan Vien at 1,226m and Ngoc Hoa at 1,120m.

Because of the mountainous topography, the climate on Ba Vi varies with altitude. Above 500m, fog enshrouds the top of the mountain on most days.
The special terrain and climate provides Ba Vi with a clean and quiet atmosphere under the green shadows of the thick and interminable forest.

From the gate, a sloping zigzag path leads visitors through the jungle to a 400m high destination. After 30 minutes of walking, cool weather and fresh air awaits.

Visitors can look for and discover traces of French colonial architecture: an ancient church, an orphanage, villas for vacation and a prison built in the 1940s.

With a relatively favourable climate, good infrastructure and close proximity to Hanoi, Ba Vi already attracts large numbers of visitors. Several tourism companies have developed resorts and attractions in and around the national park and further major tourism resorts are planned.

The higher visitors climb, the thicker the mist and fog they encounter; sometimes one cannot see the faces of companions. At a height of 1,200m, Mt Ba Vi allows tourists to admire the beauty of the landscape, surrounded with clouds reminiscent of Elysium.

From the peak, another 770 steps on the stone staircase to the west leads to Vua Peak, atop which sits President Ho Chi Minh’s Temple, while 225 steps up the east face leads to Thuong Temple , where local residents adore Saint Tan Vien-Son Tinh who is ranked first among the national four immortal saints.

Son Tinh is considered a national hero for fighting floods, waterlogging and foreign aggressors. The saint played a key role in uniting the Viet and Muong peoples.

In Ba Vi National Park, natural forest is mainly distributed at elevations above 600m. The indigenous vegetation of Ba Vi are lowland evergreen forest, lower montane evergreen forest and lower montane mixed coniferous and broadleaf forest. In 1998, the national park supported 4,701ha of forest, comprising 1,710ha of natural forest and 2,991ha of plantation forest. The plantation forest is still, however, in the early stages of development, with only small trees present.

Ba Vi is not only the lung of the capital city but also home to 812 species of vascular plants. The national park also supports 44 mammal species, 114 bird species, 15 reptile species and nine amphibian species.

The forest of Ba Vi National Park is an important source of forest products for local communities. For example, medicinal plant collection is a major economic activity in the area. Between 1997 and 1998, an estimated 250 tonnes of medicinal plants were extracted from the national park. It has been estimated that 80 per cent of the Dao ethnic group in Ba Vi commune extract medicinal plants, which is their second most important source of income.

Ba Vi is also an important site for education and scientific research. The park managers are currently building a research centre which will play an important role for scientists and students. The centre is being set up with separate areas for birds, medicinal herbs, and a garden for specimen trees which aims to preserve rare genes.

(Source: VNA)

Man infuses fresh spirit into Ha Dong silk

Everyone in the famous Van Phuc silk village knows Do Van Hien, the only person who can create fine patterns for silk in a short time.

Hien is Vice Chairman of the Van Phuc Silk Cooperative, and is called the man who infuses fresh spirit into silk.

Hien’s job is closely linked to computers. He is the sole man in Van Phuc village who can use graphic software to design patterns on silk. Hien said the most useful software is Corel Draw; he said it has helped him create a “revolution” in designing silk patterns.

In the past, to create a pattern, designers had to work on thousands of squares on hundreds of cardboard pieces. Each square is equivalent to a detail. Normally, designers spent more than two weeks in this process. To have a complete design, artists had to work over one more week with manual machines.

By using Corel Draw, Hien can make a new pattern in just 3 days, compared to over 20 days in the past. Moreover, he can freely release his creativeness.

Most silk shops in Van Phuc village are selling silk with patterns designed by this man.

Hien couldn’t remember how many designs he had made in nearly ten years. Most silk weavers in Van Phuc village buy his patterns. As customers’ tastes are changing very quickly, Hien is also very busy. However, he doesn’t lose creativeness in new designs.

Hien’s designs are as sophisticated as those made manually by craftsmen in the past. Being called a craftsman, he refused, and said: “I don’t consider myself a craftsman. There are many real craftsmen in my village. They draw by hand and create highly-sophisticated patterns.”

Born in a family that has been living with silk for several generations, Hien became keen on drawing silk patterns when he was a child. But he was so busy with studies and managing the weaving workshop of his family that he couldn’t focus on this job until 1994.

He had to research alone because other craftsmen wouldn’t reveal their secrets. At present, Hien is the only one in Van Phuc who can complete the whole process of silk design.

Hien wishes to restore the traditional brocade weaving technology but he admits this is a very difficult job because craftsmen in Van Phuc are very old while the young don’t want to identify themselves with this job.

At the age of 40, Hien is worried about the future of his silk village as some families produce low-quality products, which damages Van Phuc silk’s reputation.

But Hien is most sad that the young are not enthusiastic about the traditional job. “Young people are very good at computers but they don’t want to follow my job. It is really hard to find one who is talented and loves this job!” Hien said.