The hundreds of years old tea fields in Suoi Giang are the key highlights in the strategy of developing green tourism services, the identity of Van Chan district. Located in the North of Van Chan district, Yen Bai province, Suoi Giang commune is favored by nature in terms of land, cool climate of the high mountains over 1,000m above sea level to grow crops of economic value. high, it’s Shan Tuyet tea. 98% of the commune’s population is H’mong and for hundreds of years, the people have known how to grow tea. The ancient tea tree in Suoi Giang can be from 2 to 5m high, with a canopy of 2-4m wide. The tea buds are big, the shrimp has white snow, the whiter, the higher the content of micronutrients in the tea. Shan Tuyet Suoi Giang tea has long been famous at home and abroad due to its very high product quality with aroma, rich taste and rich nutrition. Currently, the commune has over 674 hectares of tea, including 193 hectares of ancient tea. “70% of households in the commune grow tea,” said Mr. Giang A Dang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Suoi Giang commune. The Secretary of the Commune Party Committee also has 3 hectares of ancient tea. The purchase price of fresh bud tea in Suoi Giang commune reached an average of 20,000 VND/kg; The production value brought to tea growers is about 20 billion VND/year. Tea is the main source of income for agricultural households in the area – said Vice Chairman of the Commune People’s Committee Mua A Giang. The price of the product depends on the type, ranging from 150,000 to 650,000 VND/kg, the delicious kind is about 3 million VND/kg – said Ms. Lam Thi Kim Thoa, Director of Suoi Giang Tea Cooperative. “The most precious tea must be made from hundreds of years old tea tree buds on high mountain peaks, covered with clouds and dew all year round, imbued with the quintessence of earth and sky. It is a high-class tea, cherished as a precious medicine, just for a gift, it can be up to 50 million VND / kg”, said Mr. Dang Thai Son – who has a deep understanding of Suoi Giang tea. Or that, now hundreds of years old ancient tea gardens, rough trunks, white mold are not only a place to provide clean raw materials for processing high-class Shan Tuyet Suoi Giang tea products, but also a tourist destination. tourist attractions. “Having to visit the garden, see firsthand the hundred-year-old tea trees, the tree stump is bigger than an adult thigh; Being able to climb the tree to pick fresh tea buds, one shrimp and two leaves, to taste the acrid taste and then enjoy the sweet aftertaste of the tea, there’s nothing more exciting than that” – Ms. Kan shared. Comrade Mai Mong Tuan – Secretary of the Van Chan District Party Committee said, the Resolution of the Party Congress of Van Chan district, term 2021 – 2026 defines: “Promoting the development of green tourism services, identity, bringing tourism to life Tourism has become an important economic sector of the district. Suoi Giang is on the list of places to develop green tourism services with local identity. In this direction, the district’s goal is to focus on protecting and developing safe, sustainable Shan Tuyet tea, organic farming; raise the value of products and develop the brand name and trademark of Suoi Giang tea in order to help growers, enterprises and cooperatives in producing, processing and trading tea to get rich from tea trees; to associate the protection and development of tea areas with the development of community eco-tourism. Mr. Dang Duy Hien – Chairman of Van Chan District People’s Committee affirmed that following the above orientation, the district will protect the integrity of Suoi Giang ancient tea area to serve the province’s eco-tourism projects. In addition, the locality organizes propaganda, training and technical transfer instructions for tea growers to understand the basic techniques to affect tea plants, help protect tea plants, increase yield and quality. and ensure the growth and development of the old tea area as well as the newly planted tea area. From this orientation and solution of the party committee, local government, Suoi Giang tea and other services that “follow” the reputation of Suoi Giang tea are facing many favorable opportunities for development in the coming time. Now, going to Suoi Giang, visitors can enjoy high-class dining and accommodation services right in the middle of ancient tea fields. Recently, a business has boldly invested tens of billions of dong to build Suoi Giang Cultural Space. From this cultural space, visitors can see the roofs of the Mong people hidden among the mountains and clouds; enjoy a quiet resting space amidst the vast green tea plantations; enjoy the national specialties, including new dishes such as grilled meat rolls, young tea leaves eaten raw with herbs; enjoy tea through a very sophisticated brewing process performed by artisans who have undergone training in the art of tea making. Secretary of the District Party Committee Mai Mong Tuan added that in the coming time, the district will focus on trademark protection, promotion and management of Suoi Giang tea brand in domestic and foreign markets; diversifying forms of business, promotion and advertising of local products. At the same time, encourage people to effectively and sustainably exploit tourism potentials; improve product quality, promote activities, develop green tourism services and identity. On the side of the people, especially the Mong ethnic people – the owner of Shan Tuyet Suoi Giang tea, they are trying to preserve the ancient tea trees in order to turn the tea fields into an indispensable destination in the tour. invest in repairing houses, preserving national cultural identity to develop community-based tourism in association with agricultural production development, creating sustainable livelihoods./.

More than 10km from the center of Muong Khuong district (Lao Cai) to the north towards Simacai, Pha Long pass is a famous pass in the Northwest. The name Pha Long pass originates from the top of the pass running through the Pha Long market, a small commune in the territory of Muong Khuong – Lao Cai. The whole Pha Long pass is about 20km long. The road is craggy with craggy rocks, running against the Chay river with a length of nearly 20km. Today, although it has been repaired and paved to make traveling more convenient than a few years ago, anyone passing by must still be very careful because the road is narrow and the slopes are getting higher and higher. Passing the winding pass is to Pha Long. Pha Long means “Flower Dragon” in the local language, this is a border highland commune of Muong Khuong district, Lao Cai province, where the Mong people have lived for generations. Pha Long brings its own feeling thanks to the ancient and peaceful from the old houses of the Mong people. The unique feature in the architecture of the ancient houses of the Mong people in Pha Long is that they are built according to a pattern with three compartments and two doors (including one main door, one side door and at least two windows). Many old houses in Pha Long today were built more than half a century ago. Pha Long is also famous for the Gau Tao festival (Grauk taox in Mong). This is a “specialty” of spiritual culture from thousands of generations of the Mong people here. Usually held on the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Gau Tao Pha Long Festival is held on a large field, convenient to travel, with mountains and trees for young men and women to enjoy ethnic games such as throwing bows, swinging, swinging. tug, push stick… Invite readers to watch the video: Unique yearbook photos. Source: News VTV24.

Like a wholesale market of forest products Unlike the markets in the Northwest that usually only meet on one day and then dissolve, the Saturday night Tua Chua market is busy from dusk on Saturday night until almost the end of Sunday afternoon. In the mornings from Monday to Saturday, Tua Chua market has people selling groceries, clothes, food… in cages, but there are few buyers. At noon on Saturday, the market began to gradually crowded with people from the Mong, Thai and Dao ethnic groups in the district bringing goods down to prepare for the fair, the most crowded being the Mong ethnic people. Just bought the orchid from the people, the “mixed touch” person offered to sell it right away On the way from Hanoi to the Northwest and Northeast highlands, people below have never seen a market with a lot of wild orchids, wild ginseng, herbs like at Tua Chua market on Saturday night, like a market. The clues of these goods come from the mountains and forests. Small traders at Tua Chua market said that before, the market was only held on Sunday mornings behind cage houses, the Mong ethnic people went to the market to sell chickens, ducks, underarm pigs, home-grown agricultural products, and herbs exploited in the forest. then buy clothes, farm tools, household appliances. People who buy and sell wild orchids from natural places gather in Tua Chua to hunt orchids of local people to exploit forest orchids or grow wild orchids at home and then sell them. They dated people to buy and sell wild orchids on Saturday night at Tua Chua market. It is always convenient for the Mong ethnic people to go to the market to sell orchids on Saturday night and then stay at the market on Sunday morning. So Tua Chua market has had a Saturday night market for more than 3 years now. The front of Tua Chua market looks very popular, unlike the vibrant scene in the back At first, Tua Chua fair market on Saturday night only had people buying and selling wild orchids, later on, people also brought wild ginseng, special agricultural products of the highland such as small root ginger, black turmeric, cardamom, and herbs. pharmacy… Buyers see many things below that they don’t have or have but are not as good, so they can buy more to use, as gifts. Guests spread the word about the interesting, unique and strange things they bought, making the Saturday night Tua Chua market noticed. However, Tua Chua is far away, not everyone has the conditions and time to come, so orchid hunters make contact with local people, asking for help buying and sending. Seizing the opportunity, some local people became collectors, collectors of business, Tua Chua market on Saturday night became a wholesale market of wild orchids, forest ginseng, precious agricultural products, and highland herbs from Vietnam. when no one knows. It can be said that this is the only night market selling wild orchids and ginseng in Vietnam so far. Mobile technology pervades Those who specialize in buying forest orchids, ginseng through rocks, herbs at Tua Chua market on Saturday night are mostly Kinh people in other localities but living in Tua Chua; a few are young people from the Mong, Thai, and Dao ethnic groups from Sin Ho (Lai Chau), Quynh Nhai (Son La), Tuan Giao, and Muong Cha (Dien Bien). Wild orchids are the most sought after item. Every Saturday, they gather at Tua Chua market to pick up people from the villages to bring orchids to the market. Bought a lot are rare orchids such as scallops; Orchid with beautiful flowers are popular as paint daffodils, kim scallops, square kieu, purple kieu, yellow kieu, royal lap, Hoang Thao, jade point … The price of orchids is high or low depending on each orchid, orchid bush. People in the village who are honest but buy and sell many times also know that they shouldn’t be in a hurry to sell, but just put it out there for buyers to see, tell the price, whoever pays more will sell. “Mixed trim” sells wild orchids Unlike wild orchids, the types that are considered precious from the mountains such as rock ginseng (rock ginseng), three-kid tubers, herbs are almost the same purchase price, the only difference is large, small, and quality. How fresh and dry. At dusk, Tua Chua market on Saturday night began to be bustling. Those who come for the first time will be amazed with the light from the flashlights mounted on the seller’s head and the light from the many smart mobile phones that are directly transmitting images for sale. Perhaps even the big cities in Vietnam do not have a market where the “hybrid touch” sales force is as large as in Tua Chua market far away in this Northwest highland. Buyers who gathered enough goods, began to “mix and trim” to sell online. Each person has 2-3 phones working at the same time, just transmitting pictures of each orchid, introducing, trading, and selling prices continuously: “Is there anyone who closes the ceiling of the earth orchids, is it beautiful? glass is always, beautiful bag, always coffee”, “Mr. Tran Phuc, the price of bare berry is 480,000 VND, is it OK for my sister?”, “Brother Le Trung, please give me the phone number above. Please finish off the overseas spring rolls, price 150,000 VND, please”, “This application for painting daffodils is closed for Mr. Tu Cuong, what is the address in Hue, bro”… The buyer side also responded: “Sister, look at the orchid here, let me see how the orchid is, but 50 million or 5 million dong?”, “50 million, but how can 5 million dong get you, orchids? it’s rare”. Closing any order, the seller immediately took the phone number and address written on the small piece of paper attached to the orchid that had just had a buyer. For precious orchids, the seller “hybrid touch” does not set a specific price, but gives the starting price of each tree for those who love that type of orchid to auction. The highest bidder wants to own that orchid but is far away, must ask an acquaintance at Tua Chua who has knowledge about orchids to check the tree and receive the goods immediately. Unlike the orchid sellers who have booths, sit on the spot “hybrid touch trim”, those who “hybrid touch trim” to sell ginseng and herbs mostly do not have stalls. They walk around the market, holding a tree with 2-3 smartphones, and carrying a small bag with a notebook on their shoulders. Seeing the place of ginseng and herbs of the villagers that are beautiful, the “mixed touch” people put the phone in to introduce, price immediately without asking the villagers how to sell. “Today, my family has ginseng piercing stone cool liver, good health for both men and women, very nice products. The price of big ginseng root is 80,000 VND per pound, small root is 60,000 VND per kilogram. Please order quickly”, “Hey guys, is this ginseng beautiful, put it in glass glue soaked in wine, it looks very nice, it’s good to drink”, “If you like stewed chicken with ginseng, this ginseng is great very”, “Brother Nam in Hanoi 2 pounds right? Sister in Saigon 4 pounds give me the address, phone number too”… After finishing the order with customers online, those who “mix and touch” will ask the price, pay the price with the villagers and weigh the goods. They pay but are not in a hurry to pick up the goods to free their hands to go to another “hybrid touch” to continue. At the end of the night of the market, each person “crossed and touched” sold at least 20-30 kg of ginseng, some people managed to lock up to a hundred kilograms. Closing the order, the person who “preliminarily trims” records the ticket immediately Know “hybrid touch”, sell more goods Ms. Mi Sen and 3 Dao people are all from Sin Ho (Lai Chau province) selling at this market for only one year. They buy ginseng from local people to collect in the forest and then bring it to this market to sell. At first, the girls sold it to a few people who specialized in “hybrid touch trim”, gradually learned how people did it, and then also “hybrid touched trim” sold their own ginseng, only reaching the level of “hybrid touching trim” on one phone. only phone, but the sales are more than before. A teacher from Thai Binh came to Tua Chua to teach, and every time she went to the fair, she went to the market to sell ginger, black turmeric, and cardamom to earn extra income. She said that ginger and black turmeric grown in the highlands are more spicy and fragrant than those grown in the lowlands, so they are very popular. Usually customers close orders of at least 5 kg of ginger or turmeric, at least 1 kg of cardamom. She bought it, packed it, called the “Giaohangtietkiem” party to pick it up and deliver it for her, the “cyp” money (delivery fee) was paid by the customer, for every 5 kg of ginger, the fee was about 30,000 – 40,000 VND. The teacher speaks Hmong, so she has the advantage of fast transactions with the Mong people who go to the market to sell goods compared to other “mixed touch” people. Those who “hybrid touch” work until 23 o’clock, then temporarily stop, bring the goods to pack to deliver in the morning to the “cyp” carrier for the customer. They sleep on the spot or rent a motel to take advantage of a few hours. Around 5-6 am on Sunday morning, this force again went to the market to hunt for beautiful forest orchids, good ginseng penetration, continue to “mix and trim” to take advantage of closing more orders. Over a Saturday night and a Sunday morning, mobile technology has brought goods from Tua Chua market to many buses to all regions. On Sunday morning, returning to the market, the Mong and Thai people saw us handing over our phones to take pictures and videos, and they asked again: “Did you just come here?”. At dusk on Saturday night, the Mong ethnic people bring their goods to the market Meeting day If you go to the provinces in the Northwest and Northeast, if you meet on the right day of the fair, all lowland people will like it. The fair for the highlanders is like a festival to meet each other, trading is simply selling what they can grow and raise in the village or go to the forest to earn and then buy what they need. These very rustic images allow people below to walk up and down the market to learn many unique cultural features of each ethnic minority community.

Pa Vi Ha Community Cultural Tourism Village 100% of the people in the village are Mong people. In addition, what attracts visitors is that the culture of the Mong people here is still preserved from house architecture, cuisine, costumes to traditional folklore… Hmong community tourist area in Meo Vac In the cultural village, there is also a cultural house of Meo Vac district, which is considered as a conservation and promotion area for Mong ethnic culture. Visitors here can learn more about the cultural traditions of the Mong people. Even many Hmong tourists from other localities also come to enjoy and better understand the traditional culture of their people. In this village, there are 28 households participating in infrastructure investment and putting into use houses according to the model of Mong ethnic group with architectural design of wooden frame houses, walls and roofs with 2-storey yin and yang tiles. The houses built according to the traditional Hmong house architecture are adjacent to each other and most develop the Homestay service, serving tourists to visit and experience. Room rental rates vary depending on location. Community room ranges from 150 to 200,000 VND/person per night. Single room is about 400 – 550 thousand VND/night depending on the time. In addition, visitors coming here can also enjoy the traditional dishes of the Mong people cooked at the Homestay itself. The entrance to Pa Vi Ha community tourist area. The climate here is very specific and unique. The average annual temperature is about 18 degrees Celsius with a winter lasting up to 8-9 months and there seems to be no hot season. Especially, from December of last year to February of the following year is the coldest time of the year, the lowest temperature can drop below 0 degrees Celsius. The winter is so cold, but the summer is short, only 2-3 months with an average of 19 – 23 degrees Celsius. The weather conditions in the H’Mong ethnic minority culture and tourism village, Pa Vi Ha village make us feel connected. Think about the small Da Lat in Ha Giang. Ms. Thu Hong, a tourist from Hanoi, shared that she often follows the Ha Giang tourism community and has heard a lot of compliments about the community-based cultural and tourism village at the foot of Ma Pi Leng pass. Ms. Hong came here and had the opportunity to experience: “I really feel lost in stories and movies that I’ve seen. The architecture of the house is decorated with yin and yang tiles, creating a cool, very cool atmosphere. easy to sleep, suitable for those who want to relax. The dishes are also very strange such as thang co, meat hanging in the kitchen … attractive to tourists.” In particular, Ms. Hong is very fond of the dances of spreading flowers and the sound of the H’mong boys. Anh Quang – owner of a Homestay shared: when the district party committee had a policy to develop community tourism, he signed up to participate immediately, contributing to the economic development of the locality. Initially, it was estimated that the construction cost would be about 700 million VND, supported by loans. However, during the construction process, Mr. Quang was also capitalized, the total investment cost was more than 2 billion VND. In the early days of construction, it was very difficult, sometimes he wanted to give up, but thinking about the long-term, he had to “stab and follow”. After that, when he completed the homestay and started to have tenants, he was temporarily relieved. However, the operation time was not long before it was caught in the epidemic, so business was also difficult. If there were foreign tourists in the past, now Quang only welcomes domestic tourists. On average, weekends are usually full and there are customers who order food at the restaurant. Mr. Quang said that in order to ensure that according to the motto “please come, please go”, my family and other households in the village always adhere to the standards of friendliness, price transparency, and hygiene. environment in the stages of dining and experience…

Hunting clouds in Hang Kia – Pa Co. (Photo: Cung Phuc) Hang Kia – Pa Co valley is as beautiful as a fairyland. Hang Kia – Pa Co is located in the middle of Xa Linh and Luong Xa mountain ranges, with an average altitude of 800-900m above sea level, a cool year-round climate and surrounded by primeval forests with invaluable vegetation. equally rich. Drug hotspot turns into a beautiful cloud hunting spot Hang Kia, in Thai is “Bat Cave”, and Pa Co means “Goat Forest”, the residence of the Mong people in these two communes, which were formerly the villages of the Thai people. However, because it is not suitable for farming and living practices, the Thai people here have moved elsewhere. About 30km from Mai Chau town, Hang Kia – Pa Co are the two most difficult communes of Mai Chau district, once the capital of opium and a hot spot for drugs and social evils of Hoa Binh province. The cause of this situation is that the Mong here have a close relationship with the Mong people in Van Ho district (Son La) and the Mong people in Laos. Taking advantage of this, some subjects have carried out acts of illegally trading and transporting drugs. Since then, criminal lines have been formed and this place has become a transit point for drugs from Laos to Vietnam. Currently, Hang Kia – Pa Co has returned to its peaceful rhythm of life. Some households have begun to develop homestay tourism, attracting a large number of domestic and international tourists. From 2010 up to now, the local tourism activities began to have strong development steps. Since 1986, Hang Kia – Pa Co was planned as a special-use forest and in 1997 was converted into a nature reserve. The residents here are up to 90% of the Mong ethnic group, which still retains many unique cultural features. Khen dance – one of the unique cultural features of the Mong people in general and the Mong people in Hang Kia – Pa Co in particular. On festivals, the Mong ethnic group in Hang Kia – Pa Co organizes pounding day cakes to treat friends, this is also one of the unique culinary features here. The group took a souvenir photo at Hang Kia gate. (Photo: Huy Khoi) The most characteristic feature of Hang Kia – Pa Co for tourists is to go to “heaven’s gate” to “hunt clouds”. From above, visitors can watch white clouds floating around the mountains. We went to Hang Kia on a last day of April. The period from October last year to April next year is the ideal time to hunt clouds because these days with high humidity and cold will easily have the opportunity to meet more cloudy. The night before, we sat outside to eat and drink, surrounded by clouds making us feel like we were sitting in a refrigerator, a natural refrigerator. If you don’t wear a hat, it will only take a moment for the clouds to soak your hair. The later it got late, the colder it got, a few rains came, making our group all secretly happy that tomorrow morning will hunt clouds successfully. We woke up at 5am so we could reach the sky gate at 5:30am to hunt clouds. On the way, the gravel roads are messy, foggy, going 1-2m apart but “faint human image”. The more we waited, the less we could see the clouds descending, twisting together densely and floating around the mountain peaks. So cloud hunting failed. Kha A Dinh, the owner of A Dinh homestay, told us that if it rains heavily the night before, and the next morning is sunny, the hunt for clouds will succeed. “This season is the best season to hunt clouds, hopefully, you guys are lucky next time,” A Dinh said. Hang Kia and Pa Co market If the rattan hunt fails, you can visit Hang Kia and shop at Pa Co fair. In fact, very few people are allowed to enter Hang Kia because this place is not a tourist attraction, but is under the management of the Ministry of Defense. Fortunately, we were loved by the local people and personally took us to Hang Kia to tell us the name was taken to give this place name. What you should pay special attention to when entering Hang Kia is to stay away from the Ki tree, a wild plant that grows along the entrance to the cave, has very sharp thorny leaves that sting like a needle. Locals said that sometimes when I don’t look at it, it also stabs itself. We had to actively use our shoes to crush the Ki tree so it wouldn’t hit us. Entering the cave, we caught a few bats flying out of nowhere, then flew away again. That’s the Bat Cave. The cave is small and deep. Sometimes we had to crouch to keep our heads off. In the cave there are many stalactites, traces left by thousands of years of water droplets flowing on the top. Pa Co market takes place on Sunday mornings with products of the indigenous Hmong people. Banned pork is sold at the market gate. The red pork pieces like beef, white fat and thick, the price is about the same as pork in the city, but definitely much better. Dresses and shirts sewn and embroidered by the people themselves are also on sale, priced at 1 million/piece. The price is expensive because this is completely handmade. To sew a brocade dress/shirt, it takes a month of hard work for the sisters/mothers. There are Hmong women about 70-80 years old who bring ginseng roots, precious plants only in this area, and lovely Mong dogs… for sale. People often buy and bargain less because people here are still too poor, buying to support them is the main thing. Group of tourists taking pictures with Mong children in Mongolian village, Hang Kia. (Photo: Huy Khoi) With a cool year-round climate, and located on a famous tourist route connecting Mai Chau and Moc Chau, going to Hang Kia is often combined with tourists to visit neighboring areas. For example, if in the calendar year, you can run to Moc Chau to see plum or peach blossoms, take advantage of visiting Hang Kia to play. There is also a plum garden here for you to see, if you like. Located between Tan Lac and Mai Chau on National Highway 6, you can go through Thung Khe Pass or Da Trang Pass, you can see the clear sky in the morning, the afternoon sun is hot, the sky is blue, the afternoon is gentle with sunlight. Afternoon sun and night fog spread all over the road. Going down Mai Chau 30km, visitors can visit Lac village, Mai Chau, a famous and poetic attraction among high mountains and green rice fields. Currently, Lac and Mai Chau villages have developed community tourism with electric cars that take tourists to visit 8 villages, there are double bicycles for renters to cycle through fragrant ripe rice fields.

The Mong people in Spring village live separately from the outside, surrounded by forests and mountains on all sides After filling 3 bottles of gasoline, according to Mr. Thao Van Cong, Mong ethnic group in Xuan village, Chairman of Veterans Association of Son Thuy commune, we started the journey to the H’mong village. After nearly an hour and a half, traveling more than 24 km of winding roads, we were at the Spring village. Standing on the top of a high mountain, looking ahead are the old wooden roofs and walls, nestled in the middle of the old forest. The dirt road to each house is as small as a thread, sometimes you have to cross a small stream to reach the other household. For generations, the Mong people in Spring village have lived in this land, living in difficult farming, isolated on all four sides are hills, terrain, and traffic are complicated. People’s life is very difficult. Mr. Thao Van Cong said that at present, Spring village does not have electricity, roads and medical stations, and schools are still facing many difficulties. In the old, shack, Mr. Thao Van Dia, Secretary and Head of Spring Village told us that the village has 114 households with 525 people. Here, because a number of concentrated domestic water works are degraded and cannot be used, people have to connect pipes to streams to bring water back to use. Dia shared, in the rainy season, roads are difficult to travel, people cannot go in and out of the village, the food source mainly depends on shifting cultivation, some households grow a little more rice and corn to store for the next season. County borders. The rest raise small barns around the house. After lunch, fearing that it would rain, we continued our journey to Xia Noi village. From Spring Village to Xia Noi is only 5 km, but it takes half an hour for the group to arrive. To get to Xia Noi village, you have to cross small roads, cross streams, and in the rainy season, the water is heavy, the village is almost isolated. Due to the dilapidated and badly damaged Spring Village Kindergarten, the children were arranged to study temporarily at the old elementary school. The head of Xia Noi village Sung Van Cau said that the village currently has 35 households with 168 members, in addition to difficult transportation, essential needs such as electricity, medical stations, television… are also the long-awaited wishes of the village. citizen. In recent years, people have been regularly provided with maize and rice varieties to actively cultivate, so they no longer have to worry about the lack of food in the off-season. However, due to difficult roads and fragmented farming practices, productivity is low. Even more difficult, when sick people move to the center of the commune, the road is both far and bad. To get to Xia Noi village, the only way is to cross the forest road, cross the stream, travel becomes very difficult in the rainy season. Outdated customs and practices, small production, low education level, and lack of synchronous investment in electricity, roads, medical stations, etc., make the life of the Mong people in the two villages of Xuan Xuan and Xia Noi meet. many difficulties. Discussing this issue, Mr. Ha Van The, Vice Chairman of Son Thuy Commune People’s Committee said: “We want the authorities at all levels to pay more attention, invest in electricity infrastructure, roads and stations so that people can have a meeting. live better”. The poverty rate in Xia Noi village is still high Mr. Mac Van Toi, Deputy Head of Economic Infrastructure Department of Quan Son district, said that in Mua Xuan village, the Department of Industry and Trade is implementing a power grid investment project. In Xia Noi village, the district is currently applying for policies and funding to support investment in the power grid. As for the road system to Mua Xuan and Xia Noi villages, according to Mr. Toi, the district has developed a medium-term public investment plan, period 2021-2025, currently there are a number of projects of the Provincial Committee for Ethnic Minority Affairs and one Several other projects are under construction…

With hundreds of hectares of plums covering the valley, Na Kaa is likened to the “kingdom” of plum trees that are about 20-30 years old. When the plums on the 20-30-year-old tree trunks turn from green to dark purple in the first weeks of May, Na Ka people begin the plum harvest season. In order for plums not to be affected by hailstorms, many gardeners in Na Ka have used a net house system. When the plums at the top of the branches are fully ripe, it is also the time when gardeners in Na Ka like the family of Mr. Hau A Su (Ban Pa Khen 1) enter the peak harvest days, selling to traders right in the garden. In the fruit-picking season, if it weren’t for the epidemic, every day hundreds of traders would come to collect the best plums at orchards like Mr. Hau A Su. The family of Mr. Hau A Su in Pa Khen 1 village mobilized the whole family to collect ripe plums in the garden. Mr. Wait’s family grows about 100 20-30 year old plum trees and with these perennial plums, the collectors sometimes have to move on the trunk like this to get all the plums. Playing with ripe red plums, the Mong people in Pa Khen 1 village collect… … the fresh, juicy plums, specialties of the plateau, are brought out by the Mong girls out of the Na Ka plum valley and sold to traders. In households, the season of ripe plums is also a busy time to harvest, pack and send to other places for consumption. To ensure a closed organic production chain, many plum growers have used insect traps, instead of pesticides… Although affected by the disease, the price of plums after Na Ka is higher than in previous seasons, so the famous agricultural product of Moc Chau plateau is still the main livelihood for the Mong people in the region. This specialty with crispy, fragrant and juicy fruit is mostly purchased, sorted and sold by traders in Hanoi and the southern provinces. … and experimentally planted many new plum strains such as rice plum varieties, which are used to process flexible dried plum products. The plums have just been picked right in the garden, fresh and whole, canned and stamped to certify that the agricultural product has a protected trademark, and sold at major supermarkets in Hanoi for 150,000 VND/kg.