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• Cooking and tasting local food
• Visiting a local market
• Walk through the village
• Working in the field
• Experiencing the coffee process
• Fishing or sailing with locals
• Biking tour around the village
• Handcrafting or painting
• Storytelling by elders
• Homestay or farm stay

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According to the APEC website, the cultural village of Na Tong is about 130km from Tuyen Quang city and 290 km from Hanoi’s capital. The village is inhabited by the Tay ethnic group residing along Thuong Lam Valley and boasts both beautiful natural scenery and fresh air.

Upon arrival in Na Tong, visitors have the opportunity to enjoy the majestic natural landscape and discover the traditional culture of the Tay ethnic people, such as the architecture of the house, accommodation, food, culture, art, traditional legends, and rituals, says the website.

In 2017 Na Tong started welcoming and letting tourists stay overnight in the village. Since then, the name Na Tong has become well known among tourists from near and far.

The website also offers guidance in detail about how to travel to the area, the best things to do in Na Tong village, what’s good to eat in the village, as well as information about accommodation there.

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum was established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the Asia-Pacific region.

Currently, the website of the APEC with the address https://communitytourism.apec.org focuses on tourism promotion, in which the APEC Secretariat selects typical destinations for APEC members. It provides an opportunity to promote community tourism in the Asia-Pacific region, thereby attracting more and more tourists to those destinations.

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Thai Nguyen Province is located about 80km north of Ha Noi. The province has natural conditions very suitable for well-growing tea trees that are the basis for creating high quality tea products.

It is estimated that Thai Nguyen has more than 20,000 hectares of tea specialized in cultivation with an output of about 240,000 tons. The whole province has more than 65 cooperatives, over 120 tea production companies, and nearly 200 tea villages with many products that have won international awards. The famous green tea hills of Thai Nguyen are merely agricultural products of the Northern Midlands and Mountains Region and also gradually becoming tourist products, loved by domestic and foreign visitors.

Currently, Thai Nguyen Province has been promoting tourism in combination with tea culture and products through the improvement of community-based tourism in the Tan Cuong tea area in Thai Nguyen City, the organization of the Thai Nguyen Tea Festival from 2011 up to now. These activities have contributed to promoting tea products as well as attracting a large number of visitors coming to Thai Nguyen.

Harvesting tea buds in Tan Cuong, Thai Nguyen Province

The green tea fields have become an indispensable destination for visitors to explore in Thai Nguyen. Here, visitors are immersed in the fresh green space with the faint scent of tea, as well as have many interesting experiences when ‘transforming’ into tea growers harvesting green tea buds. In particular, many tea production establishments also introduce and serve visitors with many attractive activities suitable for different ages and groups such as families with children, the elderly, large groups, etc.

Coming to Thai Nguyen, visitors should visit the Tan Cuong Tea Cultural Space which keeps documents and artifacts related to tea in the flow of history, and also honors and promotes tea cultivation. In addition, visitors can experience tea production establishments, participate in tea harvest and processing and especially enjoy delicious tea cups with local people.

According to scientists, Thai Nguyen tea has ingredients including caffeine, theophylline, theanine, theobromine, polyphenol, and EGCG which help for good health such as improved memory, consciousness, relaxation, reducing stress, and antioxidants…

                                                                                                                                                                                                           Tourism Information Technology Center

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The family of Vang Thi Can, the owner of Ban Lien Forest Homestay, is one of five households in Ban Lien participating in developing the community-based tourism model. Visitors to the homestay can stay in a traditional stilt house with a palm leaf roof – the typical house of Tay ethnic people. Can said that, since joining the project, her family has offered visitors an opportunity to explore the traditional customs, daily lives, and festivals of the Tay ethnic group. The tourists can also join locals to try their hands at harvesting rice, picking tea leaves, and making cassava cakes. “Despite facing many difficulties due to the COVID-19 epidemic, my family and I consider tourism as a means to earn a long-term livelihood,” she said. Can’s neighbor, Lam A Luan, also renovated his house and turned it into Che (Tea) Hill Homestay – a facility that can serve up to 20 visitors. Luan’s family has a 60-year-old tea hill that covers more than 10 hectares behind the house, making his homestay have a huge advantage in developing tourism while farming organic tea. Visitors to Che Hill Homestay can not only take part in tours to local tourist sites and waterfalls but may also try picking and drying tea leaves for brewing tea.

The families of Vang Thi Can and Lam A Luan are two of the five households participating in the project on increasing incomes and the role of ethnic minority women through the development of community-based tourism in Bac Ha District, Lao Cai Province.

The project is part of the Australian Government-funded programme on Gender Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism (GREAT), which is being implemented in the provinces of Lao Cai and Son La.

Under the projects, participants were provided loans, receive training in communication skills on social networks, learning foreign languages from experts of Centre for Rural Economy (CRED), in order to equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and skills in the hospitality and tourism industry.

As a result, the project participants now can develop contents to advertise their homestays on websites and social networks including Facebook and Zalo. They also renovated and redecorated their homes to give them a more beautiful and environmentally friendly appearance while exerting efforts to preserve and promote the treasured traditional cultural values of their ethnic group.

Thai Thi Huyen Nga, the project’s officer, said that the GREAT program was launched in March 2019 with three main goals: generating jobs and increasing incomes for locals, particularly women, through the development of community-based tourism; enhancing the confidence of ethnic minority women in doing business; and encouraging men’s support for women to participate in doing business, play a decisive role in the family, and take part in community activities.

In addition to bringing about obvious changes in enhancing women’s role and equality, the project has contributed to helping the participants to starting career in tourism in a professional way and encouraging them to pay greater attention to preserving traditional cultural values.

“We believe that tourism development in Ban Lien Commune will generate sustainable livelihoods for the people, thus driving economic growth in the locality,” Nga said.

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The village is located on the banks of the Đăk Bla River and is one of the oldest villages in Kon Tum City in the province of the same name. Coming here, we admired the Rông long house soaring in the blue sky which is a community house for the common activities of villagers such as meetings, festivals, or welcoming, and also immersed ourselves in xoang dances, participated in hand-loom weaving and danced with the people to the sound of gongs.

On the way, we saw the winding paths along the legendary Đăk Bla River. The two sides of the road to the village are full of pink grass. In the distance are sandy beaches adorned with light purple sugarcane mixed with overlapping mountains to create a peaceful village scene. Entering the village, we felt a peace different from the noisy life outside. The fun and refreshing laughter of the children mixed with the sound of weaving and the sound of carving statues create a beautiful old village. Currently, Kon Kơ Tu Village has 92 households with 530 Ba Na people. Because the village was formed very early, it still retains its ancient, wild and majestic natural beauty. Standing in Kon Kơ Tu and looking to the east, we could see the top of Kong Muk Mountain reflected on the Đăk Bla River. About 5km along the bank of the river is a flat, sandy beach that embraces the ancient village like a mother holding her child in her heart.

Pristine architecture

Although it is the oldest village in the city, Kon Kơ Tu still retains the pristine beauty of a Ba Na village. Surrounding the long communal house is a system of stilt houses facing the south as in the local traditions, this is a favorable direction to improve the luck and lives of the villagers.

The village still has more than 20 stilt houses built in the traditional style. A Ba Na stilt house is characterized by a rectangular model with an average length of about 10m. Each house consists of 12 pillars and is divided equally by six pillars on each side to create stability and balance for the house. The Ba Na often set up pillars of houses made of various kinds of wood. The stairs of the house are usually made of wood and meticulously carved. In the long stilt houses, there will usually be three to four generations of the Ba Na living together. The Kon Kơ Tu villagers are very hospitable. In addition to cultural exchange and getting acquainted with folk songs and traditional musical instruments of gongs, we participated in the new rice festival.

In the afternoon, we rented boats to admire the romantic Đăk Bla River and enjoy the clear, fresh air of the mountains and rivers here.

At night, we enjoyed rượu cần (wine drunk out of a jar through pipes) of the Ba Na people and heard them talk about their lives, as well as the cultural customs in the region. And of course, we enjoyed the local food like fried forest bamboo shoots, grilled chicken with salt and pepper and river fish.

The Kon Kơ Tu community-based tourism village just debuted in July last year.

According to Kon Kơ Tu villager A Kâm, local tourism has grown in recent years but local people were mostly disorganized. After the People’s Committee of Kon Tum City launched a project to support the development of community-based tourism in villages last year, tourism in the locality has developed even further.

With the support of the municipal People’s Committee and preferential loans, many households have invested in building and upgrading houses, rooms and campuses. They have also offered new kinds of tours with different experiences to attract tourists. With the unique architecture and cultural features of the Ba Na, Kon Kơ Tu Village is an attractive destination in Kon Tum.

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From Lai Chau City, following the paved road, passing the winding curves of the passes hidden in the clouds, the village appeared before our eyes.

Since 2015, Sin Suoi Ho has been recognised as a community-based tourism village.

According to the head of the village, Vang A Chinh, Sin Suoi Ho used to be home to a large number of drug addicts. However, since 2005, the number of addicts has decreased gradually. To date, there are no drug addicts in the village thanks to the development of community-based tourism. From being a poor village, after 15 years, nowadays, the incomes of households have increased from tourism and selling local products such as orchids, cardamom, brocade and products made of rattan and bamboo.

Golden spring

Sin Suoi Ho in Mong language means “golden spring”, conjuring up the image of a peaceful small village, full of fruit trees with waterfalls and streams whispering all night and day. Located 1,500m above sea level, the village has a cool and fresh climate. These are also favourable conditions for developing eco-tourism.

Coming to the village, we were surprised to see with the wooden and earthen houses with the typical architecture of the Mong ethnic minority. The unique highlight of these houses is a hand-lined stone fence surrounding the house. This structure creates a solid house and serves to be cool in summer and warm in winter. The village still has dozens of traditional houses, creating a charming landscape.

The village also attracts tourists due to its rich cultural and spiritual life. The most special are traditional festivals with typical features such as the Gầu Tào festival, the most important festival of the Mong, held in early spring to express their gratitude to Heaven and Earth and pray for good luck and happiness in the new year and Lễ Mừng Lúa Mới (new rice ceremony). Women in the village still wear and weave traditional clothes made from linen. Along with that, traditional professions such as brocade embroidery, winemaking, knitting and forging bring stable incomes.

With rich and diverse natural and human resources, Sin Suoi Ho has drawn domestic and foreign tourists. Although it just started to do tourism a few years ago, this place has become a bright spot for community-based tourism in Lai Chau Province due to the methodical, conscious and professional attitudes of the locals.

Developing community-based tourism

The village has nearly 130 households, all of whom are Mong people, of which 10 households are engaged in community-based tourism. With the support of the local authorities, families have refurbished their houses, repaired toilets and bought blankets and pillows to welcome guests.

Currently, Sin Suoi Ho can accommodate more than 100 tourists per day and night with prices ranging from VND70,000-100,000 per person every night. On average, each year, the village welcomes about 100,000 domestic and foreign visitors.

According to Chinh, many other households are also upgrading their guesthouses to serve tourists.

Thanks to its favourable climate, the village has become a place to develop cymbidium orchid. Many families in the village have enjoyed a significant increase in income from growing and selling cymbidium orchids to tourists.

“On average, each household here earns VND30-50 million per year from growing orchids. Households who both do homestay services and grow orchid also collect VND200-300 million per year. With that benefit, people now decorate their houses and multiply cymbidium orchids gardens to welcome tourists. We are also supported by the local government in training to make tourism more professional,” said Vang A Giang, an owner of a cymbidium orchids garden.

The land used to grow opium in the past has flourished with more than thousands of orchid pots, peach trees, táo mèo (táo means apple, and mèo is a word of the Mông minority), 10 homestays and a restaurant.

To better serve tourists, the village plans to make completely natural products in the traditional style of Mong people such as shampoo, soap, hand sanitiser, dishwashing liquid and bath medicine.

Vang A Tua said that every person in the village feels very happy and proud to have visitors come to experience the life and culture of the Mong. Tourism also brings significant income to help improve their lives.

Locals also raise pigs and chickens and grow vegetables to serve customers, avoiding foods that use preservatives or stimulants.

Chinh said the village is working towards not using plastic bags and instead of making bamboo baskets, pipes or simply buying and selling goods in the village wrapped in banana leaves.

The locals are also aware that one of the advantages of attracting tourists is it helps preserve the identity of the Mong people.

“We want to introduce tourists to understand more about the identity of the Mong people. Each homestay family wears traditional clothes, makes the specialities of the Mong and lives with their own customs with visitors coming here. This is both the responsibility of preserving the national culture, and also a unique point that helps us make use of it for tourism. This will make visitors love and come back to us,” said Sung Thi Le, a resident of Sin Suoi Ho.

“The experiences of culture, nature and people in Sin Suoi Ho have given me a good impression. The most impressive thing is a small clean village, everywhere are orchids and fruit species. We enjoyed dishes with unique flavours of the Mong people such as mèn mén (steamed minced maize), cardamom juice, vegetables and bamboo shoots,” said Bach Van Anh, a visitor from Hanoi after a trip of three days and two nights in Sin Suoi Ho Village.

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