Lao Cai province has 50 national and provincial cultural relic sites and 40 national intangible cultural heritages. Some of them were added to UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This is the foundation for Lao Cai to develop various types of tourism.
A Then singing Club of Nghia Do district (Photo: dangcongsan.vn)
The La Chi ethnic people in Nam Khanh commune have upheld a lot of traditional culture and production, including growing cotton and weaving. Lao Cai provincial Department of Culture and Sports has revitalized the craft as part of tourism development.
Ly Thi Huong, a La Chi woman, said that she and other women have learned weaving. “In order to preserve the traditional weaving craft, I write know the techniques and instruction. We should make video clips for young people to learn,” Huong said.
Nghia Do commune was recognized as a provincial tourist destination in Lao Cai in 2021. The Tay people here have their own way of attracting tourists. Kim Thi Mai heads an art troupe that performs for tourists.
“We preserve and promote traditional Then singing to entertain tourists. They will understand more about Then and the culture of Tay people,” Mai said.
13 hamlets of Nghia Do commune have Then singing troupes. Most of them are young people, who are eager to learn. Luong Thi Kiem of Na Luong hamlet says: “We learn our traditional culture from mothers and aunts. We’ll continue to preserve and promote our cultural identity.”
Lao Cai province has 25 ethnic groups living together. Local authorities have implemented a project to preserve and promote local ethnic culture since 2001.
Almost all La Chi families still weave fabric manually. (Photo: VOV)
The program “One community, one ethnic group, one region has commercial specialties” has helped ethnic people build trademarks for local products, such as herbal bathing of the Red Dao, Ta Phin brocade fabric of Sa Pa, San Lung liquor of Bat Xat, and bamboo and rattan products of the Tay in Nghia Do.
Duong Tuan Nghia, Head of the Heritage Management Section of the Lao Cai provincial Department of Culture and Sports said that the key to promote tourism in Lao Cai is to preserve and promote local cultural identity.
“Lao Cai province identifies tourism as the spearhead economic sector, so cultural preservation is a very important task in creating special products to attract tourists,” said Nghia.
The preservation and promotion of the cultural identities of ethnic minorities in Lao Cai province has contributed to diversifying tourism products to offer visitors unforgettable experiences.
Vinh Phong
