A cultural-tourism week honouring the terraced paddy fields of Mu Cang Chai district in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai opened with a ceremony on September 18. At the ceremony, around 300 ethnic H’Mong artists performed songs featuring the “khen”, a traditional bamboo instrument.
During the week, which runs until September 20, there will be a paragliding festival, in addition to goat fighting, local sports and traditional products displayed. According to the event’s organising board, the festival is aimed at honouring the national landscape of Mu Cang Chai terraced rice fields and the cultural values of local ethnic groups, as well as boosting tourism development in the locality.
Mu Cang Chai has 500 hectares of rice terraces in La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu Phinh communes, cultivated by the H'mong people for centuries. The local terraces are among the 2,500 hectares recognised as national heritage sites in 2007 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The locality is about 1,000 metres above sea level, making it impossible to grow rice the same way as in deltas. Local residents grow rice in terraced fields to prevent water from flowing downhill. The terraced paddy fields in Mu Cang Chai are beautiful all year round. Visitors in March can take in the sights of glittering ponds before locals transplant rice seedlings from April to May. After May, the hills are covered in green until the fields start to turn yellow with ripe rice in early September.
During the harvest in October, the golden rice fields stand out amidst the background of lush green forests.
