Reviving cultural heritage from community tourism

Exploiting cultural and historical values to create uniqueness and attraction is the direction chosen by Quang Ngai, turning the Sa Huynh Cultural Heritage area into an ideal address for developing community tourism .

A valuable "resource"

Sa Huynh ancient pottery village (Vinh An village, Pho Khanh commune, Duc Pho town, Quang Ngai province) is located right next to An Khe lagoon - one of the largest coastal freshwater lagoons in Vietnam. Since ancient times, local people have known how to take advantage of the fresh water mixed with clay to make unique rustic ceramic products.

With a history of over 300 years, the pottery craft in Vinh An village is a link in the tradition of making ancient Sa Huynh pottery 2,000-3,000 years ago. Currently, there are still 3 households with 7 craftsmen in hamlet 26 who maintain the craft.

Pottery in Sa Huynh is handmade.

This is the only village where artisans inherit the method of making pottery by hand, without using machines or electricity. In addition to supplying products to the market, the pottery village is also an interesting destination for many tourists who love to experience and explore .

“To have a product that is both beautiful and durable, the craftsman must be careful in every step. Pho Khanh pottery is completely natural pottery, without using any type of glaze” - Ms. Dang Thi My (Vinh An village, Pho Khanh commune), who has been involved in the craft of handmade pottery for more than 40 years, shared.

Meanwhile, Sa Huynh salt village is located in the cultural space of the Archaeological Site, which is also an inseparable element of this archaeological culture. This is a famous salt field in the Central region, the salt field with an area of over 110 hectares is the livelihood of about 600 salt workers in 3 residential groups including Tan Diem, Thanh Duc 1 and Long Thanh 1.

Sa Huynh salt fields.

The tradition of making sea salt has been continuously extended from Sa Huynh - Champa - Dai Viet without interruption. In this area, salt making experience tourism is also being developed, associated with the preservation of architectural and religious relics related to the salt making profession, promoting festival activities...

Through many evidences, Quang Ngai province is considered the cradle of Vietnamese culture. Among more than 80 locations discovered and researched, 26 relics have been excavated.

The core area of cultural heritage that needs special protection is more than 1,600 hectares, including: Long Thanh relic (also known as Go Ma Vuong), Thanh Duc relic, Phu Khuong relic, Champa relic complex in Sa Huynh space, An Khe lagoon, An Khe creek - Cua Lo river.

According to Dr. Doan Ngoc Khoi, Deputy Director of Quang Ngai Provincial Museum, the culture of Sa Huynh dates back about 3,000 years, lasting until the Iron Age. The Sa Huynh people were the ones who created this culture. This is an indigenous culture, not imported from elsewhere.

Archaeological and geological scientific documents show that prehistoric Sa Huynh was a golden land for humans to live and develop for a long time, creating a geo-cultural heritage of international stature. The complex of archaeological relics, cultural and historical relics associated with An Khe freshwater lagoon has been recognized as a special national relic and is oriented by Quang Ngai province to become a world cultural heritage.

Forming a unique product

Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Ngai province, Nguyen Tien Dung, said that the cultural heritage has created a difference for the province's destination system. In 2023, the Department implemented the project "Building community tourism products associated with cultural heritage sites and An Khe lagoon".

Tourists experience An Khe lagoon.

Mr. Dung said that salt making, pottery making, seafaring, and farming were the survival characteristics of prehistoric Sa Huynh people, and are also the livelihood of current local people.

Therefore, the tourism product of experiencing the cultural space of the whole country aims to preserve the prehistoric culture of Sa Huynh and bring visitors interesting experiences revolving around three cultures from the Sa Huynh - Champa - Dai Viet era at the national cultural relic area.

"The product "Community tourism to experience Sa Huynh cultural space" will help visitors "return" to prehistoric times by interacting with nature and the activities of people living around An Khe lagoon, especially the pottery and salt making professions of Sa Huynh" - Mr. Dung shared.

Sa Huynh pottery experience space.

According to Permanent Vice Chairman of Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee Tran Hoang Tuan, after the VHSH was recognized as a special national relic, Quang Ngai province carried out many activities to exploit and create its own tourism brand based on the outstanding values of local heritage.

It is the need for tourists to visit, learn and experience that has urged local authorities and indigenous people to appreciate, be proud of, care for, preserve and conserve.

To exploit the advantages and tourism potential of VHSH, in recent times, Quang Ngai has promoted the upgrading of tourism infrastructure, built tour programs combined with visiting VHSH relics, welcomed more than 30 businesses specializing in inbound market, organized famtrip "Community tourism, OCOP - Connecting nature, Quang Ngai culture" along with many events, seminars, cultural and historical exhibitions related to this heritage.

“In addition to focusing on compiling dossiers of archaeological sites of cultural heritage to submit to UNESCO for recognition as world heritage, the province also promotes and markets tourism based on cultural heritage sites through media and social networks. At the same time, it creates favorable conditions for local tourism businesses to participate in developing new and unique tourism products based on the value of this cultural heritage,” Mr. Tuan shared.

Ha Phuong

Source