Among the traditional craft villages of Vinh Long, brick making - pottery has the longest history. Vinh Long pottery has a natural red color, after being fired, there is a unique layer of white powder on the outside. The pottery is strong, durable, eye-catching in color, gradually becoming popular in the domestic market, and attracting the attention of the international market, paving the way for export. The people of this land are hospitable, so visiting here does not require an appointment, passing by any pottery kiln and seeing it bustling with activity, just stop by to visit. Here, you can see each stage of making fine art ceramic products, from sculpting statues, pouring molds until putting them in the kiln... If you like any product, you can buy it as a gift or to decorate your home.
c. Festival
The people living in Vinh Long mainly include Kinh, Khmer and Chinese ethnic groups, so the festival has many traditional characteristics or is created by the folk beliefs of each ethnic group.
Ky Yen festival
The Ky Yen festival is an occasion for villagers to gather, discuss family matters, and have fun. In the past, in the communal houses, there was a custom of organizing hát bội every three years to worship the gods and entertain the people. These customs were aimed at strengthening community ties. The singing and singing on the Ky Yen festival is not a normal art form but has ritual content. The art program must have moral content and a happy ending.
The Ky Yen festival is also an opportunity for artisans to show off their skills such as displaying flowers and fruits. The ceremony is also an opportunity for gardeners to introduce new fruit trees, and farmers to introduce delicious glutinous rice varieties through the skills of women. However, the parties on the Ky Yen festival are only for celebration and entertainment, there is absolutely no custom of "upper and lower seats" for drunkenness.
Temple worship ceremony
In Vinh Long, there are many temples worshiping That Thanh Nuong Nuong, Ngu Hanh Nuong Nuong, Thien Hau Thanh Mau... but they all apply the ritual of worshiping the goddess Thien Y Ana. The program of worshiping the Lady's temple includes the following rituals: the ceremony of inviting Earth and Water, the ceremony of worshiping
Tien Su, Tien Vang, Tien Yet ceremony, Chanh Cung ceremony. In particular, because the goddess Thien Y Ana belongs to the Cham religion, in the past there was a custom of inviting a shaman to come and dance and offer sacrifices.
Due to the rustic nature of local temples, these festivals attract many pilgrims.
Chol Chnam Thmay Festival
It is the Khmer New Year celebration, held in the middle of the third lunar month every year. This is also the transition between the dry season and the rainy season, the time when agricultural production begins according to the traditional Khmer agricultural calendar, so Chol Chnam Thmay also means celebrating the new crop of the year.
Donta's Feast
Held at the end of the 8th lunar month, it is one of the most important festivals of the Khmer people, considered the second Tet of the year. During this time, Khmer families often bring rice, fruits, cakes, etc. to the pagoda so that monks can perform offerings to the souls of the deceased and pray for them.
For people's spiritual life, festivals are seen as a thread of sympathy, where people can share their gratitude to their grandparents, ancestors, religious beliefs, and hopes for the future... With the same meaning, festivals in Vinh Long clearly demonstrate the characteristics of the land where three ethnic groups, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Khmer, live in solidarity and closeness.
2.2.1.6 Some tourist attractions in Vinh Long
The special feature of Vinh Long tourism is that it has many elements of garden ecotourism and fruit gardens concentrated in the island communes.
a. Vinh Sang tourist area
Vinh Sang Eco-Tourism Farm belongs to Trading Company Limited
- Service - Vinh Sang tourism in An Thuan hamlet, An Binh commune, Long Ho district, Vinh Long province) was established in 2005 and has attracted thousands of domestic and foreign tourists to visit. This area has an area of 2.2 hectares like a large natural garden with a system of interconnected canals with a variety of fruit trees. This
It is also a conservation area for many rare birds and animals and an attractive entertainment area with a series of modern and folk games.
Coming here, visitors can enjoy the feeling of serenity and leisure in a countryside not far from the city, have the opportunity to explore the life of the Southern garden, learn about many rare animals, participate in many folk games, fish for crocodiles, and ride ostriches.
b. Tien Chau Pagoda
The pagoda still retains the architectural characteristics of the year of the Pig (1899), including four roofs: the front hall, the main hall, the middle hall, and the back hall. On the roof are five towers, a large tower in the middle surrounded by four small towers, below is the line of words "Tien Chau Tu". The structure of the pagoda is built in the style of four pillars and is expanded horizontally and vertically thanks to the rafters and rafters. The truss is made of precious wood, the roof is covered with yin and yang tiles. The facade of the pagoda is built of concrete with 3 iron doors. The inner hall is arranged very artistically, in the middle is a large and majestic Amitabha Buddha statue, behind is an equally large Amitabha Buddha. On both sides of the Amitabha Buddha altar are the places to worship the Bodhisattvas Tieu Dien Vuong, Quan The Am Bodhisattva, Ngoc Hoang Thuong De, Thap Dien Minh Vuong, Nam Tao Bac Dau, Quan Thanh De Quan, Chuan De Vuong Bodhisattva. Besides, the value of the pagoda also lies in the many ancient relics that are being preserved such as the set of panels carved with the Eighteen Arhats, many paintings and willows with delicate carvings from the 19th century such as the Four Sacred Animals and Four Seasons.
c. Cai Cuong ancient house
The house has two Asian - European architectural styles, built in 1885, is an ancient and unique architectural work in Vinh Long, the old house of Mr. Cai Cuong, Binh Hoa Phuoc commune, Long Ho district. The special thing about this ancient house is the images carved on the pillars, the horizontal lacquered board system and the wooden panels with many unique shapes. Not following the old standards of dragon and phoenix sculpture, the shapes that the artisans carved here are very familiar animals in the southern river region such as crabs, fish, deer, tigers, and leopards.
Visitors can relax in the 10-hectare orchard. At night, visitors cannot forget the special entertainment performances of the local people.
d. Sau Giao tourist garden
Mr. Sau Giao's Bonsai garden in Binh Thuan hamlet, Hoa Ninh commune with hundreds of ornamental plants: yellow apricot, water mai, jasmine... around the house is a longan garden and a pond raising elephant ear fish, a delicious fish. Coming here, visitors will be treated to many delicious dishes prepared by the family such as: fried elephant ear fish, shrimp wrapped in rice paper with basil, young mango shoots. This is the earliest tourist destination formed around 1990, so it attracts many visitors (international and domestic).
e. Muoi Huong Tourist Garden
This is a tourist destination located in Binh Hoa 2 Hamlet, Binh Hoa Phuoc Commune with all kinds of specialty fruit trees such as: longan, cowhide longan, bonsai art. The interesting thing when coming here is that visitors can directly talk with the garden owner, Uncle Muoi, because Uncle Muoi can speak both English and French fluently. In the evening, visitors can sit and drink tea, play chess and discuss customs with him until late at night. This is a paradise for those who want to find a quiet place to relax.
f. Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot village
Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot village in Binh Hoa Phuoc commune, Long Ho district (Vinh Long) is a place covered with green fruit gardens all year round. In July 2009, Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee recognized the traditional craft village of "ornamental flowers - seedlings". Currently, Phuoc Dinh yellow apricot village has more than 150 households growing apricot with more than 550 large apricot trees over 100 years old, about 11,000 medium apricot trees from 50-100 years old, 20,000 small apricot trees from 10-50 years old, and tens of thousands of small apricot trees under 10 years old. The apricot material is purchased from Ben Tre, Tien Giang, Dong Thap, then the growers will take care of, prune, and shape it.
g. Mekong-Dong Phu Aquaculture Farm Tourist Area
Located in Phu Thuan 1 Hamlet, Dong Phu Commune, Long Ho District, Vinh Long City. Visitors can fish for catfish, catfish, silver carp, etc. in small canals.
and are guided to prepare simple, nutritious dishes such as salty fish, braised fish with tamarind, catfish cooked with sour rice soup. Here, you can also organize picnics with games on the river by canoe, jet ski, paddle boat, banana boat... Visitors can fish on the river themselves, with freshwater aquatic species that are specialties of the Mekong Delta such as catfish, snakehead fish, crayfish... creating excitement, joy, and refreshment.
There are also other attractive tourist destinations such as: Mr. Muoi Day's stilt house, Mr. Chin Hoan's fruit garden, Mr. Chin Can's rambutan garden, Mr. Tam Ho's longan garden, Mr. Tam Tien's tourist garden, Mai Quoc Nam eco-tourism site, Quoi Thien islet in Vung Liem, My Hoa tourist area in Binh Minh.
In addition, the province is also developing tourism associated with famous historical sites such as: the memorial site of the late Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pham Hung in Long Ho district (recognized as a national historical and cultural site in 2012); the memorial site of Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet in Vung Liem district and the memorial site of Professor, Academician Tran Dai Nghia in Tam Binh district are always the destinations of tens of thousands of domestic and foreign tourists every year. There are tourists who come to visit many times, but there are also tourists who come for the first time, but everyone has the same respect, gratitude, remembrance and admiration for the life, career and great contributions of famous people to the cause of national liberation and national construction.
2.2.2 Tourism development situation in Vinh Long province
Vinh Long has favorable natural conditions, many beautiful natural landscapes, temperate climate, crisscrossing rivers, and attractive fruit gardens for tourists to visit with its natural scenery. In recent years, Vinh Long tourism has mainly exploited the Tien River tourism route (4 island communes of Long Ho district) to form a traditional tourism route for international and domestic visitors. However, 80% of tourism businesses in the area are still household-based, the connection between businesses is not high, services in accommodation establishments are still monotonous, and there is a lack of supporting products to enrich local tourism products.
According to the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vinh Long, there are currently about 36 eco-tourism gardens in the province, but their forms of operation are similar. Many opinions say that compared to other provinces in the Mekong Delta, Vinh Long owns a huge capital of ancient houses, communal houses, and pagodas, dating back over 200 years. Preserving and exploiting these heritages will make the province more attractive to tourism, which other provinces do not have. In the project to develop specific tourism products in the Mekong Delta, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has basically agreed for Vinh Long to continue developing homestay tourism, garden eco-tourism combined with visiting traditional craft villages, relics, and building a museum of wet rice agriculture in the Mekong Delta. At the same time, the province has also proposed that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism include 2 relics in the list of typical tourist destinations in the Mekong Delta: the memorial site of the late Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pham Hung and the memorial site of the late Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet.
Vinh Long tourism currently does not retain tourists for long, most tourists only come and go back in one day. Mass tourism products are overlapping and not new, so building unique tourism products with strong local characteristics that are not mixed or similar to other tourism products of the Western provinces in general is the top priority in building unique strengths to attract visitors to come and stay longer in the province.
During the tourism development period of Vinh Long province in 2015-2020, the province also called for a number of tourism investment projects combined with different types of economy to avoid boredom in exploiting tourism products for the province. Tourism projects such as My Hoa tourist area in Binh Minh with the idea of doing tourism business to serve the needs of entertainment, recreation associated with relaxation and health care for people, Dong Hau islet eco-tourism area in Tam Binh, combining tourism, natural beauty with souvenir sales, aquaculture project combined with Tan Binh eco-tourism in Binh Tan with the purpose of developing eco-tourism associated with aquaculture.
2.2.2.1 Situation of tourists coming to Vinh Long
In recent years, Vinh Long has attracted domestic and foreign tourists with its inherent characteristics of natural tourism resources, cultural tourism, and the exploration of traditional cultural values in communal houses, pagodas, and historical and cultural relics at provincial and national levels. Along with investment and upgrading of infrastructure, the number of tourists has increased steadily over the years.
Table 2.1: Number of tourists to Vinh Long from 2010-2014
Unit: thousand people
Year
2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | |
Total | 665 | 830 | 900 | 940 | 950 |
International guests | 170 | 200 | 200 | 192 | 200 |
Domestic guests | 495 | 630 | 700 | 748 | 750 |
Maybe you are interested!
-
Assessing people's awareness of tourism impacts and people's support for tourism development in Vinh Long province - 14 -
Culinary culture of the Vietnamese people in the Southwest in tourism development - The case of Vinh Long province - 26 -
Potential, current situation and orientation of exploiting tourism resources of Long An province towards sustainable development - 2 -
Current situation and solutions for tourism development at Bao Ha Cultural Tourism Village, Dong Minh Commune, Vinh Bao District, Hai Phong - 6 -
Tourism development of Vinh Long province in the period 2000 - 2010 and vision to 2020 - 11
(Source: Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vinh Long province)
Table 2.1 shows that in the total number of visitors to Vinh Long, domestic visitors account for the majority and tend to increase continuously from 665 thousand visitors in 2010 to 950 thousand visitors in 2014. Although the number of visitors has increased, compared to the period 2005-2009 (average increase of 23%/year), this number has not increased much and tends to increase more slowly. According to statistics in the period 2010-2014, the average growth rate of total visitors to Vinh Long increased by 109.74%, the average growth rate was 9.74%. For domestic visitors, the average growth rate was 110.95%, the average growth rate was 10.95%, corresponding to an increase of 63,750 visitors. Through analysis, it is shown that the number of domestic visitors to Vinh Long has increased, but the rate of increase has decreased gradually over the years and it is worth noting that in 2014, the number of visitors increased by only 0.27% compared to 2013. For international visitors, the average growth rate increased by 104.15%, the average growth rate was 4.15%, corresponding to an increase of 7,500 visitors. Through analysis, it is shown that the rate of visitors to Vinh Long in 2011 did not increase compared to 2012 and decreased to 4% in 2013.
The main reason is that Vinh Long's tourism products in recent times have not had clear characteristics to create a difference compared to other localities.
other in the region. Souvenir and typical consumer products to serve tourists' shopping needs are still lacking; infrastructure has not been properly invested.
Number of visitors to Vinh Long in the period 2010-2014
1000
900
940
950
800
900
830
748 750
700
700
665
600
630
500 495
400
300
200
170
200
200
192
200
100
0
Year 2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Total visitors
Domestic guests
International guests
Figure 2.2: Chart of tourists to Vinh Long in the period 2010-2014
(Source: Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vinh Long province) In 2011, Vinh Long province's tourism witnessed a strong change in the Vinh Long tourism industry when the number of domestic and foreign tourists increased sharply, specifically domestic tourists increased to 135,000, international tourists increased by 3,000, bringing the total number of tourists to Vinh Long province in 2011 to 165,000. The positive tourism situation was due to the H5N1 flu epidemic being pushed back after the outbreak in 2009, the economy gradually stabilizing and developing combined with reasonable tourism investment policies, creating a strong driving force for Vinh Long tourism to develop in the year.
2012.
In 2012, Vinh Long province held three provincial and national level festivals: the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of Vinh Long province, the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late Chairman of the Council of Ministers Pham Hung and the 90th anniversary of the birth of Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet, which attracted over 700,000 domestic visitors to visit and attend festivals in the province, quite high compared to previous years. In addition, in June 2012, at