Mr. Rudi (60 years old, a tourist from Australia) learned about Quynh Son Tourist Village when he accidentally saw a photo of the golden ripe Bac Son rice fields from above.
“The image was so surreal, the fields were golden, it was unlike anywhere I had ever been in Europe. At that moment, I thought I had to book a flight to come here.”
In October, he arrived in Vietnam and drove to Quynh Son. The Australian guest stayed at a Tay homestay in the village to explore and experience the indigenous culture of the people there.
Every day, he rides his motorbike around the village, takes pictures of the rice fields, climbs Na Lay peak to hunt clouds, and the yin-yang brick village... All of these bring him interesting experiences.
“Three days in Quynh Son, my life passed slowly, I enjoyed every moment, the people were friendly and simple, the food was delicious, the scenery was beautiful. Quynh Son is not just a destination, it is a place that helps me appreciate the most rustic and simple things in life,” said Mr. Rudi.
Alex, a tourist from Canada, also spent 3 days exploring the beauty of Quynh Son village and Bac Son valley during the rice harvest season. Arriving at the time when people were harvesting rice, Alex was delighted to witness for the first time the Tay people harvesting and threshing rice in the traditional way.
The sound of sickles and pestles blend together bustlingly in the fields. In just a few minutes, the bundles of straw, through the skillful hands of farmers, have yielded batches of golden rice.
“It was so much fun cheering on the farmers as they competed in the rice harvesting race, they were like masters. On the golden rice fields, everyone skillfully cut the rice close to the roots and then beat it rhythmically to separate the delicious rice grains. The atmosphere was wonderful,” said Alex.
Nestled in Bac Son valley, surrounded by limestone mountains, Quynh Son impresses with its subtle blend of nature and unique culture.
With the development of sustainable rural tourism, combining cultural and natural conservation and improving people's lives, Quynh Son Community Tourism Village has been recognized as the best tourist village in the world .
Quynh Son is also a unique village in Vietnam, where 400 traditional stilt houses all face the same direction to the South; 100% of the village's residents are Tay people with the last name Duong.
Mr. Truong Ky Hoi - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Bac Son Commune - said that the ancients had a saying: "Marry a gentle wife, build a house facing South". Therefore, Quynh Son people want to have a prosperous and peaceful life, so for generations, all the stilt houses in the village have faced the same direction. The South view from the village is also the fertile Bac Son fields, embellished with a clear, winding stream, thus creating a very charming landscape.
Seen from above, the village appears with neat, close-packed stilt houses nestled at the foot of the mountain, facing the vast fields.
The stilt houses in Quynh Son are elaborately built from precious woods such as nghien, dinh, lim; the roofs are covered with yin-yang tiles. Each house usually has 3 or 5 rooms, each room has its own function.
Visitors can walk or cycle around the village, across the carpet-like rice fields, admire the majestic mountains and enjoy the fresh air.
From a peaceful countryside living on slash-and-burn farming, Quynh Son has "changed its skin" when boldly developing agricultural tourism. The simple farmers, who only know how to grow rice all year round, have now become homestay owners and local tour guides, bringing in income many times higher than when they were still doing traditional farming.
Mr. Duong Cong Chai (76 years old) is one of the first 5 households that dared to experiment with the tourism model in 2010 - a time when the concept of "homestay" was still new in the village.
The stilt house, over 90 years old, with 8 sturdy pillars from 1930, which was only a family living space, was renovated by him: One side into 3 bedrooms, 5 rooms on the ground floor, 4 more rooms upstairs. The house can welcome up to 40 visitors per day.
Before starting tourism, Mr. Chai’s family only harvested about 1 ton of rice a year – just enough to eat, not much left over. However, since opening their doors to visitors, their income has changed completely.
"During the rice harvest season, there are many tourists, the money I earn is equal to a year of farming. On average, I earn about ten million VND per month," he said. The price of staying at Mr. Chai's family's house ranges from 100,000 to 150,000 VND per person, a private room is up to 800,000 VND per night.
Learning from Mr. Chai, in 2017, Ms. Duong Thi Du (born 1965, Quynh Son) started doing tourism, renovating her husband's family's traditional stilt house into 4 rooms for tourists.
Previously, the whole family - husband, wife, two children and two grandchildren - relied on only one hectare of rice field, which was unstable all year round. Since working in tourism, her income has skyrocketed: about 20 million VND per month, and during the holiday season, the number of guests is packed, welcoming up to 40 visitors per month.
To preserve Tay culture, every evening she organizes Then singing, lights a campfire, takes visitors around the village, introduces the typical yin-yang tiled roof, how to wrap black banh chung, make sausage, and stew pork - dishes that every visitor wants to try.
For Ms. Du, tourism not only brings in income, but also helps pass on the customs, dishes, and lifestyle of the Tay people to the younger generation. “Keeping the family tradition, and having a much better income than farming,” she smiled.
Thanks to the strong development of tourism, Quynh Son has truly entered a period of innovation. From a village living on agriculture, people can open homestays, provide experiential services, sell specialties, lead cloud hunting tours on La Nay mountain or SUP rowing in the valley during the Bac Son Golden Season Festival.
Mr. Truong Ky Hoi - Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Bac Son Commune - said that 2025 is a special milestone for the locality, when the Golden Harvest Festival is associated with the announcement event of the "World's Best Tourist Village Award" by the United Nations Tourism Organization.
Among more than 260 entries, Quynh Son tourist village of Bac Son commune won first prize, contributing to raising the brand of community tourism in Lang Son.
According to Mr. Hoi, what attracts tourists to Quynh Son is the experience of traditional agricultural life.
“The experiential activities are designed for visitors to relive the ancient cultural space, from pounding rice with primitive tools, wrapping banh chung, to making black banh chung - a specialty of the Tay people in Bac Son,” said Mr. Hoi.
In addition, the rice harvesting competition using rudimentary tools at the foot of Lay Mountain also attracted many visitors. Through direct experience, viewers - especially young people in the city - can better understand the value of agricultural labor and the hardships associated with rice cultivation.
Ms. Tran Thi Bich Hanh - Deputy Director of the Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion of Lang Son province - said that the title "World's Best Tourist Village 2025" is a comprehensive recognition of the Quynh Son community tourism model.
“The United Nations criteria assess indigenous cultural values, rural landscapes, community cohesion, environmental protection, and sustainable development capabilities - and Quynh Son meets all of these requirements,” said Ms. Hanh.
Ms. Hanh believes that the originality of agricultural and rural culture, along with the way people preserve Tay identity in daily life, production and architecture, is the difference that helps Quynh Son surpass many other localities.
Not only stopping at beautiful landscapes, Quynh Son also gives visitors a vivid experience of a traditional agricultural village - something that modern tourism is lacking and desperately needs to make a lasting impression.
“This international title will be a big boost to help Bac Son promote rural tourism, attract investment resources, improve people's livelihoods and promote the transition from pure agriculture to tourism services,” Ms. Hanh shared.
However, Ms. Hanh said that Quynh Son still needs to improve its traffic infrastructure and train more professional tourism human resources to meet future customer expectations.
In 2025, Lang Son issued Resolution 19/2025/NQ-HDND, creating a strong support mechanism for community tourism associated with the Lang Son UNESCO Global Geopark for the period 2025-2030. This policy helps the province attract investment and expand the network of destinations in a professional, green and sustainable manner.
Lang Son also calls on businesses to invest in areas with beautiful landscapes and unique cultural identities; develop modern community tourism spots while still preserving traditional values.
Thanks to that, the rural tourism model in Lang Son does not stop at homestay stilt houses but has formed a series of experiences associated with local life: Growing vegetables, fishing, preparing traditional dishes, learning folk songs and dances, participating in festivals. These experiences bring their own appeal, helping visitors fully feel the rustic beauty of the countryside.
In the first 10 months of 2025, Lang Son welcomed more than 70,000 visitors to experience community tourism, showing the right development direction.
Agricultural and rural tourism has therefore become a driving force to change lives, increase income, create local jobs, promote agricultural product consumption, preserve culture and open up sustainable development opportunities for people right in their homeland.
Content: South Vietnam
November 29, 2025 - 10:26
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/ngoi-lang-doc-dao-o-viet-nam-ca-lang-mang-ho-duong-nha-cung-mot-huong-20251128195554638.htm
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