Tourists explore the only mountain on Thieng Lieng Island and also the only mountain in Ho Chi Minh City
Thieng Lieng is an island hamlet located about 7 km from the center of Thanh An commune, Can Gio district (HCMC), with waterway transportation. According to local statistics, Thieng Lieng hamlet has about 243 households living mainly on salt production and fishing. In 2023, the salt production area in Thieng Lieng hamlet is 390 hectares with an output of 17,000 tons, the average salt price in the field is 1,900 VND/kg.
The entire Thieng Lieng hamlet has only one 4km long oval road winding around salt fields, rivers, canals and mangrove forests. Thieng Lieng has not been affected much so it still retains its rustic, natural features that not every coastal area has. Here, in addition to the surrounding mangrove forest with an extremely rich ecosystem, there is also Giong Chua mountain. This is considered the only natural stone mountain in Ho Chi Minh City, and if considered more broadly, it is probably the... lowest mountain in the country.
Thieng Lieng Island is quite isolated from the outside world. There is no bus station on the island so there is very little dust.
Possessing a rustic, peaceful beauty amidst the vast, white salt fields... along with the warmth and simplicity of the local people, Thieng Lieng Island has unique tourism potentials bestowed by nature. However, the name Thieng Lieng has only gradually appeared in recent years, and the form of community tourism on the island has also begun to become systematic with 20 members, including 16 households participating in groups of products and services such as: experiences, cuisine, accommodation, local culture and arts serving tourists.
At the end of 2023, Ho Chi Minh City began the acceleration phase of tourism development here with the highlight of the "3 no" specialty: No dust, no bus station, no social evils. Ms. Nguyen Thi Bach Tuyet, Director of Thieng Lieng Production, Trade and Service Cooperative, introduced: The tour here has been put into order, when the boat carrying tourists just docked, the households in the community chain welcomed them at the ferry, each guest received a conical hat and a bicycle to take souvenir photos at the welcome gate, then moved to Sau Trung's household to enjoy a cool drink with coconut milk ginseng grown in the home garden.
Next, visitors move to Ut Hai's house to explore the nostalgic space with old items such as bronze pots and stone mortars and other daily necessities of farmers from the North, Central and South that the owner has painstakingly collected over the years. Next, visitors will enjoy coconut ice cream and salted coffee from Tu Tuan's house. After that, visitors move to the game area of Ut Thao's house or the check-in point of Tam Em's house and to Hai Loan's house with traditional cakes and cool syrup drinks from Muoi Gia's house.
Visitors to Thieng Lieng Island cannot miss visiting the Ngu Hanh Temple, the only spiritual place of worship for the people on the island, and experiencing a day as a salt worker on the white salt fields. In the afternoon, visitors will enjoy the unique Kim zither performance of artisan Nguyen Hong Huynh, freely check-in on HiKing road, explore the intricate river system and Giong Chua mountain; enjoy seafood caught by forest rangers at the forest guard post. Finally, soak your feet in Nam Tuyet's relaxing foot bath after a tiring day of playing with the sea salt product combined with herbs that just won second prize in the Southern region and a national encouragement prize in the Women's Entrepreneurship Competition with the theme of indigenous resources in 2023.
On the island, there are also many homestays such as Ba Huyen, Muoi Gia, betel garden homestay and stilt houses with a capacity of 60 - 70 guests. The night performance is also very special because the artists are also salt farmers, including 12-year-old Thuy Trang who just won the Ho Chi Minh City Sen Hong award; most recently, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Tho won the Gold Medal at the New Rural Communes' New Traditional Music Festival at the end of 2023.
From the initial confusion, the households on the island have now started to do tourism more professionally, taking more care of their "homegrown" products. According to local statistics, since the Thieng Lieng community tourism destination was launched in early 2023, nearly 3,000 tourists have come to experience the products and bought nearly 2,000 bags of herbal salt. On average, out of 10 visitors who have tried herbal salt, more than 5 of them buy it for themselves and as gifts for their relatives. The profit that this product brings is more than 30%. After 1 year of organizing and operating the "Community Tourism" model, the island hamlet has created jobs for 50 people, helping 2 households escape poverty with a monthly income of 6 - 7 million VND.
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