A peaceful and ancient countryside is the deep impression left on tourists when experiencing exploration tourism in Ha Nam island, Quang Yen Town. The Ha Nam island with dozens of ancient communal houses and pagodas owns Vietnamese village culture.
For a long time, Phong Coc communal house – the oldest one in the North today, has become a place for spiritual and cultural activities of Ha Nam islanders. The highlight which attracts tourists to the communal house is the plentiful and harmonious art of sculpture and decoration about dragon, unicorn, tortoise, phoenix (the four supernatural creatures), traditional festivals such as wrestling, cock fighting, boat racing etc.
On Tet holidays and festivals, locals living at Coc village organize ceremonies, such as New Year's Eve, New Year’s Day, Going to the field ceremony etc. On these occasions, tourists will experience unique rituals imbued with national identity. Especially, on the 4th and the 5th day of the 6th lunar month every year, “Going to the field” festival takes place in Phong Coc communal house, wishing for a bumper crop. Coming to the Phong Coc communal house, tourists will be immersed in the festive atmosphere with exciting activities such as pole swimming contest, rice planting competition and arts performance.
Boat-building workshop of the elite Artisan Le Duc Chan at Cong Muong village, Phong Hai ward, Quang Yen town, is another great suggestion for tourists to buy small boats for souvenirs, visit the boat-building workshop and learn about the way in which a boat was built.
Furthermore, visitors also have other experiential options such as taking bamboo boat trip to sightsee the immense landscape of river, exploring untouched natural mangrove forests, special Tet festivals such as Tien Cong Temple, Giua Dong Pagoda etc.
Translated by Thu Giang
