Unique community tourism destination of the Dao Tien people

Tourists experience the art of beeswax printing on brocade fabric with the people of Sung village, Cao Son commune (Da Bac).

Ground-floor houses, wooden walls, and thatched roofs in the traditional architecture are still popular in Sung village. The villagers keep the habit of living in ground-floor houses, building houses close together, not building partition walls but gathering together. Later, when building tourism and accommodation services, households building community-based guesthouses still kept the original traditional house architecture. However, they renovated the foundation, replaced the dirt floor with a brick floor, arranged decorative items and household items using bamboo, rattan, and wood to create a closeness and friendliness with nature.

Brocade weaving has been associated with the life of the Dao Tien people for generations. In the Sung village community, people still dye indigo, weave fabric, and sew traditional costumes, imbuing them with the beauty of indigenous culture. People here say that what makes Dao Tien costumes unique is that they are decorated with silver coins and floral motifs that combine the art of beeswax printing with tailoring, embroidery, and indigo dyeing. In addition to embroidering directly on dresses, Dao Tien women often embroider small pieces of fabric, then sew them into the dresses.

Along with the community-based tourism model associated with preserving cultural identity, the traditional brocade weaving craft in Sung village has been paid attention to preserving and promoting. Local authorities and non-governmental organizations have supported the restoration and development of the brocade weaving craft group, attracting 11 female members in the village to participate. At the same time, it has become one of the attractive tourism products for tourists to visit and experience activities such as indigo dyeing, beeswax painting, etc. In addition to dresses, scarves, women in the weaving group also create products with diverse designs such as tablecloths, handbags, wallets, etc. to meet the needs and tastes of tourists buying souvenirs.

Other traditional occupations such as herbal medicine and do paper making are maintained. According to Mr. Ly Van Quy, head of the medicinal material production team, in the past, households in the village relied on the abundant natural medicinal resources to make medicinal remedies, mainly for family treatment. With the support of the sustainable community development project, the village established a team, invested in factories, provided equipment, designs, and developed products to help sustainably exploit resources and increase the competitiveness of local medicinal products. Currently, the production team has launched 4 products on the market: sweet Gynostemma pentaphyllum tea, herbal bath leaves, herbal mosquito spray, and red ginger massage alcohol. The cooperative group for producing do paper and developing products from do paper is also one of the attractive experiential products.

At the DLCĐ destination of Sung village, ethnic cultural features such as Dao writing, Dao classes, herbal medicine picking, herbal baths, etc. have also become popular tourist products, contributing to creating a new look, more diverse and attractive tourism products for the Tien Dao village. Along with raising awareness, consciousness of preserving and promoting cultural identity, the livelihoods of local people are increasingly improving. Up to now, over 80% of households in the village have income from participating in accommodation, food, tour guide, art, brocade, medicinal herbs, making do paper, etc. Traditional craft groups and teams regularly welcome visitors to visit and experience, especially do paper and brocade.

Ms. Le Thu Phuong, a tourist from Hanoi, shared: I was impressed by a Dao ethnic village on the shore of Hoa Binh Lake, which is airy and peaceful. During my stay here, I had a memorable experience when visiting a medicinal herb factory with a closed process, a solar-powered medicinal drying house; beeswax painting, indigo dyeing, and making do paper with the locals.

Ms. Dinh Thi Hao, Director of Da Bac Community Tourism Joint Stock Company, said: Currently, along with the development of community tourism in Hoa Binh Lake tourist area, Sung village is one of the unique destinations thanks to the exploitation and promotion of indigenous cultural values, attracting many tourists, especially foreign tourists.

Bui Minh

Source: https://baohoabinh.com.vn/16/199979/Doc-dao-diem-den-du-lich-cong-dong-cua-nguoi-Dao-Tien.htm