From a "lowland" on the tourism map of Vietnam, up to now, Bac Giang province's tourism has a brand, owning many destinations attracting domestic and international tourists.
Tourists visit Bo Da Pagoda (Viet Yen district, Bac Giang province).
Taking advantage of UNESCO-listed heritages, national and special national historical-cultural relics, in which the highlight is the cultural heritage system associated with the formation and development of Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhism, Bac Giang has built unique tourism products.
Since 2011, Bac Giang has identified tourism development as one of the five key socio -economic development programs of the province. Up to now, with many solutions, programs, plans, and projects that have been concretized and implemented with great efforts, Bac Giang has formed four key tourism products (cultural-spiritual tourism; eco-resort tourism; entertainment, recreation, and sports tourism; community tourism) and initially exploited them effectively, in which cultural-spiritual tourism is the focus.
Tay Yen Tu tourism brand
In the past three years, Tay Yen Tu tourism (with the highlight being Tay Yen Tu spiritual-ecological tourism area) has become the pride of Bac Giang. From the potential of tangible and intangible heritage and scenic spots, the advantage of natural landscapes associated with vestiges of pagodas and towers related to the Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhist Zen sect, Bac Giang has invested in and created unique tourism products, such as: The path of propagating Buddhism of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect; Returning to the sacred land of Tay Yen Tu; Tay Yen Tu Spring Festival associated with Bac Giang Cultural Tourism Week... contributing to shaping the tourism brand of the province.
The West side of Yen Tu includes four districts: Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam, Yen Dung. According to researchers, the East side of Yen Tu (Quang Ninh province) is where King Tran Nhan Tong practiced, while the West side of Yen Tu is the path of spreading Buddhism and teaching the religion of him and his disciples.
Up to now, along the western slope of Yen Tu, there are about 130 relics related to the history of the formation and development of the Truc Lam Zen sect founded by King Tran Nhan Tong in the late 13th century. A typical example is the special national relic Vinh Nghiem Pagoda (Yen Dung district) built during the Tran Dynasty. This is the ancestral place of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect, currently preserving 3,050 woodblocks, recognized by UNESCO as a World Documentary Heritage in the Asia-Pacific region.
There is potential for developing cultural-spiritual tourism and community tourism, but it was not until 2014 that the exploitation of the more than 700-year-old Truc Lam Buddhist cultural space on the western slope of Yen Tu was invested in and systematically planned, in which the highlight is the Tay Yen Tu spiritual-ecological tourism area, in Tay Yen Tu town (Son Dong district), with a scale of 13.8 hectares, including four independent pagoda clusters: Trinh pagoda, Ha pagoda (Phat Quang pagoda), Trung pagoda, Thuong pagoda (Kim Quy pagoda). The pagodas are connected to Dong pagoda and the statue of Buddha King Tran Nhan Tong on the top of Yen Tu (Quang Ninh province).
Along the nearly 100 km long Buddhist propagation path of the founders of the Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect, from Bac Giang city, visitors will pass through historical sites and scenic spots in the districts of Yen Dung, Luc Nam, Luc Ngan, Son Dong such as Am Vai Pagoda (located on the Yen Tu arc), Bo Da Pagoda, Kem Pagoda, Truc Lam Phuong Hoang Zen Monastery, Suoi Mo eco-tourism area associated with the legend of the Lady of the Upper Realm... The Truc Lam Tay Yen Tu Buddhist cultural space - a unique Zen sect of the Vietnamese people - has attracted a large number of visitors to visit and experience.
Expected to be completed in 2025, but since 2019, the items in phase I including Thuong Pagoda, Ha Pagoda, cable car line No. 1 from Ha Pagoda station to Thuong Pagoda station, central square area... have been completed and officially put into operation, welcoming visitors from all over to worship and sightsee. Besides the Path of propagating Buddhism of Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhist Patriarchs, which is the core product of Bac Giang tourism, the province also invests in developing Tay Yen Tu tourist areas and destinations; creating and forming cultural products, typical cultural activities; products, tours, routes, tourist destinations with unique characteristics of Bac Giang province.
These material and spiritual resources have created the Tay Yen Tu tourism brand, spreading to domestic and foreign tourists the unique values of the land, culture, people of Bac Giang and Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhism. The material and spiritual life of the people, especially ethnic minorities in Son Dong, Luc Ngan, Luc Nam districts... has been improved. In 2023, Bac Giang welcomed more than 2 million tourists; tourism revenue was about 1,477 billion VND; creating jobs for about 2,500 workers. In the first six months of 2024, Bac Giang welcomed about 1.8 million tourists.
Exploiting the advantages of cultural resources
Identifying cultural-spiritual and historical-cultural tourism as two of the three strong tourism products, Bac Giang has proposed key solutions to develop tourism based on the foundation and advantages of the system of historical-cultural relics with typical values in the area.
Resolution No. 112 of the Provincial Party Committee on tourism development for the 2021-2025 period, with a vision to 2030, has identified tourism development as an important economic sector; sustainable tourism development, associated with the preservation and promotion of cultural heritages and fine traditional values of the nation...
According to Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Bac Giang province, Do Tuan Khoa, Bac Giang has laid the foundation for tourism development since 2010 and has so far created fundamental conditions.
Over the years, Bac Giang has done a good job of preserving and promoting traditional cultural values, typical historical-cultural relics, especially exploiting and promoting the values of UNESCO-listed heritages, national and special national relics... to form unique and high-quality cultural tourism products. Up to now, Bac Giang tourism brand is flourishing, creating momentum for the development of the province's cultural industry.
Bac Giang has rich and diverse resources for developing cultural tourism. With 755 ranked relics and scenic spots, including 5 special national relics and clusters (including Vinh Nghiem Pagoda, Bo Da Pagoda, Xuong Giang Victory Site, Yen The Uprising Site and Hiep Hoa Safe Zone II); 16 national intangible cultural heritages, including 5 heritages recognized by UNESCO (including Quan Ho folk songs, Ca Tru, Vinh Nghiem Pagoda woodblocks, the Vietnamese Mother Goddess worship and Then practice of the Tay, Nung and Thai people in Vietnam), Bac Giang is one of the top provinces in the country in terms of the number of cultural heritages. The province also owns four national treasures, including: Kham Lang Pagoda stone altar (Luc Nam district); Doi Coc stone box stele from the Mac Dynasty (Bac Giang city); Bo Da Pagoda woodblocks and Tho Ha communal house's gate (Viet Yen district).
With the viewpoint of preserving and promoting the value of ethnic cultural heritage associated with sustainable tourism development, Bac Giang has exploited cultural values, linking heritage conservation with tourism development and local socio-economic development, focusing resources on building a number of key tourist destinations associated with cultural heritage and unique landscapes.
Many attractive tourism products have been formed such as: Tho Ha ancient village; Khe Ro primeval forest; Nuoc Vang stream scenic spot (in Tay Yen Tu Nature Reserve); Cam Son lake (Luc Ngan district)... Bac Giang currently has 32 tourism businesses, 445 tourist accommodation service businesses. The province has issued many mechanisms and policies to develop tourism and culture.
In 2023, the Provincial People's Council issued Resolution 41/2023 on policies to support community tourism development in the 2023-2030 period, contributing to removing difficulties and obstacles for the development of this type of tourism in the area. Regarding infrastructure, with the goal of heading towards the sea, Bac Giang started construction of a road connecting Tay Yen Tu town to Ha Long city (Quang Ninh).
Once completed, this route will shorten the distance in space and time, connecting the two eastern and western slopes of Yen Tu mountain range, serving pilgrims to the ancestral place of Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect.
Exploiting the advantages of heritage, in which prioritizing the promotion of the value of cultural heritages that have been listed and recognized by UNESCO and the Government, etc. is a suitable direction for Bac Giang in tourism development. Recently, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Bac Giang has completed the scientific dossier to propose a special national ranking for the Tien Luc Relic Complex (Lang Giang district).
The province also continues to coordinate with Quang Ninh and Hai Duong provinces to complete the dossier to nominate the Yen Tu-Vinh Nghiem-Con Son-Kiep Bac Monument and Landscape Complex to submit to UNESCO for recognition as a world heritage site.
Currently, with the implementation of the project to restore the Path of propagating Buddhism of the founders of Truc Lam Yen Tu Zen sect (phase 2023-2030) associated with preserving and promoting the value of Truc Lam Yen Tu Buddhist heritage and Tay Yen Tu relics and scenic spots, Bac Giang has a lot of room to create unique and characteristic tourism products to contribute to soon achieving the goal of welcoming 3 million visitors by 2025, with tourism revenue reaching 3,000 billion VND.
Source: https://bvhttdl.gov.vn/dinh-vi-thuong-hieu-du-lich-bac-giang-20241014094632622.htm
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