Come to Bat Xat to experience green tourism products

The medicinal bath model of the Red Dao people, one of the green tourism products of Phin Ngan commune, Bat Xat district (Lao Cai province), is quite attractive to domestic and foreign tourists every time they have the opportunity to come here.

Bat Xat district - where the Red River flows into Vietnam, is located 12 km from Lao Cai city . The north borders Kim Binh district, the east borders Ha Khau district (Yunnan province, China), the south borders Sa Pa town, the west borders Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province. The whole district has 23 ethnic groups living together, of which the Mong ethnic group accounts for 33.21%, the Dao ethnic group accounts for 27.86%, the Giay ethnic group accounts for 15.12%, the Kinh ethnic group accounts for 15.65%, the Ha Nhi ethnic group accounts for 5.88%, and the remaining ethnic groups account for 2.28%.

Bat Xat has abundant natural resources, beautiful climate and natural scenery and a rich cultural tradition of ethnic groups. Each ethnic group has its own festivals and typical customs, such as the herbal bath custom of the Red Dao people, which has been passed down and widely used by the local people.

Since ancient times, herbal baths have been used by the Red Dao people as a remedy to help restore health, the elderly with aching bones and joints, children to prevent and treat skin diseases and especially women after giving birth. Many Dao women after giving birth, use 3 to 5 pots of herbs, and after only 3 days can go back to the fields to work.

Red Dao women prepare to pack medicinal baths. Photo: Nhu Quynh

Each bath recipe has 25 - 30 different herbs, 2/3 of which only grow in natural forests, scattered throughout the ravines, not everyone knows. The Red Dao bath recipe is obtained by combining herbs that are good for the skin (honeysuckle, star fruit leaves, dill, guava leaves, camphor, and phellodendron), good for bones and joints (thanh tao, tho luc linh, thien nien kien, dao rung, bach quan, tam huyet, tan quy, la lolot) and have effects on the digestive tract (sa nhan, lemongrass, anise, cinnamon, thuy xuong bo, men tang, man khau tu...).

Herb collectors must be taught from generation to generation, each time they go to collect leaves, they must always keep in mind: ask for permission from the Forest God, ask for permission from the Ancestors. Therefore, the people here attach great importance to protecting the forest, because the forest is the source of life, the sacred treasure of the Dao people.

Dao women go to the forest to collect medicinal leaves. Photo: VNA

Red Dao medicinal bath products not only help take care of health but also bring positive experiences to tourists, preserve traditional culture, and create a cultural identity imbued with indigenous knowledge of the ethnic group.

Recognizing the strengths of the locality and the current tourism development trend, in 2019, women of Phin Ngan commune chose the model of "Bathing with Red Dao medicinal leaves" to develop the economy . The Southeast Asian Center for Sustainable Resource Management and Community Cultural Development Consulting (CIRUM) together with families in the village contributed and invested in building a Community Tourism House.

To operate effectively, the village has established a management team of 12 women in the village to directly operate. Up to now, the model has proven its effectiveness, contributing to building the brand of local green tourism products while creating a new source of livelihood for women in the village.

Since its inception, the village's model management team has welcomed an average of 3,000 visitors per year (more than 100 foreign visitors), with an average revenue of 160 million VND per year. In 2022 alone, the management team welcomed 3,800 visitors, with a revenue of 228 million VND. Foreign visitors often stay longer than domestic visitors to participate in a number of activities such as walking in the forest, following locals to pick medicinal herbs, hoeing the fields, sowing corn, sowing vegetable seeds, etc.

This initial result has helped improve women's income, and many households have additional income from selling products such as bath medicine, local chicken, native black pig, cold water fish, wild vegetables, etc.

Women's group takes souvenir photos with tourists. Photo: Nhu Quynh

Red Dao bath medicine here is considered to be of good quality and is popular with many people. In the future, this will be the main commodity of the locality. With this development, the above model will help local women have a stable income, especially improving the capacity of women in ethnic minority areas, such as in Phin Ngan commune.

In addition to experiencing the Red Dao medicinal bath, visitors can also participate in traditional cultural festivals such as: Put Tong Festival, Cap Sac Ceremony, Forest Worship Ceremony, Wedding Ceremony... or enjoy traditional cuisine, enjoy art performances, participate in unique folk games (singing, dancing, playing Pi Le trumpet...), experience wearing the traditional costumes of the Red Dao people.

Red Dao wedding ceremony. Photo: Nhu Quynh

Green tourism is a type of tourism based on nature and culture, with environmental education, contributing to conservation and sustainable development efforts, with the active participation of local communities. The Red Dao people's bath tobacco product is a combination of health values, spiritual values and cultural exchange between ethnic groups. This model has been bringing economic benefits to the community.

Green tourism model is also the current tourism trend, when tourists increasingly aim to experience traditional culture, this contributes significantly to the awareness of preserving traditional culture while improving the lives of indigenous people, developing the economy and building new rural areas./.

Article: Q. Lien, Photo: Nhu Quynh