Thousands of people poured to Quang Ninh province to join in the Yen Tu Spring Festival 2019, which officially opened on Feb. 14 (the 10th day of the Lunar New Year) in Uong Bi city.
The Yen Tu Spring festival, considered as one of the largest pilgrimage events in Vietnam, opened with an art performance namely “Yen Tu in spring” and was followed by a wide range of traditional rituals to pray for peace and prosperity for the country and its people. Thousands of locals and buddhist monks and nuns from other provinces and cities nationwide will have chances to take part in other folk games during the festival.
Located about 50km from Ha Long City, Yen Tu mountain is surrounded with scenic landscape and ancient pagodas. This sacred mountain is where King Tran Nhan Tong (1258-1308) abdicated his throne and founded Truc Lam Zen, and considered as the capital of Vietnamese Buddhism.
In recent years, the Special National Relic Site has been preserved and promoted with large investment. Several of the vital works, such as Legacy Yen Tu resort and the first phase of the Yen Tu Tourism and Service Center, were put into operation in 2018, aiming at offering better services to tourists. Transport infrastructure system has been upgraded and a variety of services have been offered, highlighting unique features of the festival.
This is the first time that Yen Tu relic has been connected to the Western part of Yen Tu cultural and spiritual relic in Bac Giang province.
In 2018, Yen Tu relic greeted over 1 million tourist arrivals, including more than 210,000 intenational arrivals. Since January, 2019 to date, the site received over 200,000 arrivals.
Article by Phan Hang - Minh Duc
