Tra Que - The best tourist village in the world

The World Tourism Organization has just announced that Tra Que Vegetable Village (Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province) is the second village in Vietnam to be included in the list of “Best Tourist Villages in the World”. This is good news for the people in the vegetable village, which has been a familiar destination for nature-loving tourists for many years.

Tourists experience watering vegetables in Tra Que vegetable village. Photo: C.Dai.

Located along the Co Co River in Cam Ha Ward, Hoi An City is the lush green Tra Que Vegetable Village. With 18 hectares, the vegetable village is rotated and intercropped by local households with more than 20 different types of leafy vegetables and herbs. This is also a source of fresh, organic vegetables all year round and is also a unique destination that cannot be missed when tourists come to Hoi An.

According to the elders in Cam An ward, Tra Que vegetable village has a history of more than 400 years. In the beginning, the village grew many types of herbs, including a type of vegetable called Nhu Que, which has the scent of cinnamon. In the 19th century, King Gia Long had the opportunity to visit and enjoy the taste of the vegetables here, so he named the village Tra Que. That name has been passed down and called until today.

Visitors to Tra Que can not only admire the peaceful, green countryside but also experience taking care of, watering, and harvesting vegetables with the locals... In addition, they can also cycle around the village roads to enjoy the fresh, cool air.

Having been attached to Tra Que vegetable village for more than 30 years, Mr. Vo Anh's family (62 years old), in Cam An ward, has been cultivating a plot of land of more than 1,000 square meters, specializing in growing clean vegetables. Over the past decades, his family has earned hundreds of millions of dong each year. Mr. Anh shared that in recent years, tourists have visited the vegetable village every day, especially foreign tourists. Even more exciting, every time they come, they are very excited, asking to learn farming, carrying water to water vegetables, and farmers have an additional income from these tourism activities.

Mr. Nguyen Len (65 years old), who has 45 years of farming experience in Tra Que vegetable village, quickly guided the group of tourists including Mr. Peter and Mrs. Catherine from Australia on the tour "A day as a farmer", letting them play the role of farmers and practice growing vegetables, from loosening the soil to fertilizing, sowing seeds, watering...

Right after Mr. Peter and his wife finished sowing seeds and watering the vegetable beds, they continued to experience planting small basil plants. They learned and followed the host, planting straight rows of basil in the admiration of the guests who were watching attentively. Just stopping to rest, Mrs. Catherine shared with a refreshing smile: “This is an indescribable feeling for me right now because I have just planted a green seed of life into the ground. Even though my hands were covered with dirt and my clothes were dirty, I had a wonderful travel experience.”

At the end of the “A day as a farmer” tour, Peter and his friends did not forget to record the memorable moments at the vegetable village with farmers in Tra Que, because for them this was a beautiful, memorable memory in their journey to the peaceful and hospitable city of Hoi An.

Mr. Mai Thanh Hung - Vice Chairman of Cam Ha Ward People's Committee said: "Currently, the government is coordinating with Hoi An City Cultural Center to exploit ticket sales to visit Tra Que vegetable village and craft village performances. In addition, the ward also consulted with Hoi An City People's Committee to sign a contract with a unit to develop a community tourism project associated with organic agriculture and traditional craft villages. Currently, there are more than 200 households participating in growing vegetables in Tra Que vegetable village, with an area of ​​about 18 hectares. In 10 months/2024, ticket sales revenue will be more than 800 million VND.

According to Mr. Hung, since 2020, the Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam in coordination with the People's Committee of Hoi An City has organized the opening of the Tra Que vegetable village experience tour. With a ticket price of 35,000 VND, visitors can experience the vegetable growing process of Tra Que people, visit the relic sites in the village... Every year, Tra Que vegetable village welcomes tens of thousands of visitors.

In 2022, Tra Que vegetable growing was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and included in the list of National Intangible Cultural Heritage, in the category of "Folk knowledge, traditional crafts".

Mr. Nguyen Van Lanh - Vice Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee said that the city government has raised the issue of sustainable development of Tra Que vegetable growing heritage. In particular, developing a stopover at the vegetable village in a quality direction: Visitors come to grow vegetables, then come back and enjoy the fruits of their own labor. Along with that, the vegetable village will be connected with other locations by bicycle and ecological tours along with expanding the tourism space of Tra Que vegetable village.

Source: https://daidoanket.vn/tra-que-lang-du-lich-tot-nhat-the-gioi-10294474.html