Visiting Ha Thanh village to explore the way local Tay ethnic people promote tourism

BHG - Community-based tourism is considered the type of tourism that brings the most sustainable economic benefits to indigenous residents. In recent years, the Tay ethnic people in Ha Thanh village, Phuong Do commune, Ha Giang city have taken advantage of their available resources and unique culture of their ethnic group to develop community-based tourism, contributing to the local economic development and reducing poverty.

Preserving cultural identity contributes to attracting tourists to Ha Thanh village.

Ha Thanh village has beautiful landscapes and a fresh climate and it is home to rustic traditional stilt houses of the Tay ethnic group. Ha Thanh is 6 km from the downtown of Ha Giang city,along National Highway 2 towards Thanh Thuy International Border Gate. In December 2021, Ha Thanh village was recognised as a cultural community-based tourism village. Visiting Ha Thanh village, tourists can immerse themselves in a mountainous cultural village with beautiful palm leaf-roofed houses. Thanks to its location near the city centre, the journey to explore the natural scenery and friendly people in this village is very favourable.

Ha Thanh has great potentials to develop community-based tourism. Visitors to the village can take an excursion around the small roads, passing hundreds of Tay people's houses and aromatic golden rice fields, and watching local people diligently working in the fields. The pace of life in the village is simple, slow and leisurely, not noisy or bustling like the city. Visitors can check in with the traditional stilt houses of the local Tay people. Coming to Ha Thanh, visitors can also take time to explore Waterfall No. 6. Although the waterfall is not too big, it is clear, clean and cool.

In addition to the beautiful scenery and friendly people, Ha Thanh is famous for the Bong fish, which is highly appreciated by Tay people and is often used as offerings to the god of heaven and earth, and their ancestors. Visitors can also enjoy Coiand Then folklore singing, which are very popular among the Tay ethnic community. If they stay longer in the village, they can learn more about the traditional costumes and musical instruments of the Tay people.

Like many other community-based tourism villages, visitors to Ha Thanh, can be immersed in the daily life of locals. By playing, having meals, and joining cultural and artistic activities with local people, tourists can have a better understanding of the Tay ethnic people in the northernmost region of the country. A trip to Ha Thanh village will surely leave visitors with many unforgettable memories.

Nguyen Yem