Tra Que Vegetable Village, located in Cam Ha Commune, Hoi An City (Quang Ngai Province) was recently honored by the United Nations Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) as the “Best Tourist Village of 2024”. So what are the unique features of this vegetable village that deserve to be honored?
Ideal destination
Tra Que vegetable village is about 3 km from Hoi An center, with an area of over 18 hectares. Here, households rotate and intercrop more than 20 types of leafy vegetables and spices with a tradition of about 400 years.
According to many Tra Que people, the place name Tra Que is also called Nhu Que, Thanh Que, Nha Que. According to folklore, around the 18th century, a king was traveling on the De Vong River and stopped by the village, enjoying a type of vegetable. He found the aroma of the vegetable similar to tea and the spiciness similar to cinnamon, so the king named the vegetable village Tra Que.
Tra Que vegetable village is famous for its green vegetable products grown on fertile land between Tra Que lagoon and De Vong river. Local people also use seaweed from the river to fertilize vegetables, combined with traditional and advanced techniques, so the vegetables in Tra Que are always fresh and have a unique flavor that cannot be found anywhere else. The vegetable growing profession here produces super clean vegetables thanks to a closed process and especially does not affect the environment, bringing health to consumers.
Colorful, lush vegetable fields with a temperate climate. The tranquility of the vegetable village, along with diligence and sincere hospitality. Visitors coming here can also enjoy delicious dishes made from vegetables available right in the garden. Therefore, Tra Que is not only a village that produces clean vegetables, but also an ideal destination for domestic and international tourists.
When we arrived, Mr. Nguyen Linh (66 years old) was smiling brightly to welcome the foreign tourists to visit his garden. Mr. Linh happily guided the tourists on how to hoe the soil to plant vegetables, water them and other steps. The tourists were very excited, many of them planted vegetables themselves and participated in the steps of this work.
Mr. Nguyen Linh shared: “To grow vegetables, people here collect seaweed from Tra Que lagoon and De Vong river to compost as fertilizer. The soil preparation stage must be very careful to make the soil loose. Each type of seed must be carefully selected. In addition, fertilization and watering must be done properly so that the vegetable beds can grow well and are less susceptible to pests and diseases. In particular, this place has typical aromatic herbs, which are indispensable ingredients to create specialties such as banh xeo, cao lau, Quang noodles... famous in Quang Nam”.
Visiting Tra Que vegetable village, tourist Phil Handley (62 years old, Welsh nationality) said that this was the first time he had come here and was completely convinced by the landscape, flavor, climate of the peaceful village and the hospitality of the local people. A tour guide picked a small vegetable and gave it to tourist Phil Handley, he brought it close to his nose and exclaimed: “Wow! This tiny leaf has such a wonderful aroma!”.
Walking around the vegetable beds, tourist Phil Handley and everyone in the group were amazed at the lush green vegetable beds without the use of chemicals. He and the group members smiled as they experienced the life of local farmers growing vegetables such as: hoeing the soil, planting vegetables, watering...
Tourist Tony (56 years old, American nationality), who just experienced carrying water to water vegetables, shared: “This is a wonderful destination. I love the fresh air, the green vegetable beds, as well as the delicious food and the friendliness of the farmers here. This is truly an ideal destination.”
Honor and preserve the craft village
At the first International Conference on Rural Tourism in November 2024, Tra Que Vegetable Village was honored to receive the certificate of "Best Tourist Village in 2024" from the Deputy Secretary General of UN Tourism. Accordingly, UN Tourism based on 9 criteria: Cultural and natural resources; Promotion and conservation of cultural resources; Economic sustainability; Social sustainability; Environmental sustainability; Tourism development and value chain integration; Tourism governance and priorities; Infrastructure and connectivity; Health, security, safety.
Mr. Nguyen Van Son - Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee said: "Immediately after being recognized as the Best Tourist Village in 2024, a series of international activities were held in Hoi An, Quang Nam. These are strong motivations, opening up many prospects and development opportunities for Tra Que Vegetable Village in particular as well as rural tourism activities, community tourism, and craft villages in Hoi An, Quang Nam in general in the future".
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong - Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Quang Nam province said: “Tra Que Vegetable Village is the only representative of Vietnam to win the Best Tourist Village award in 2024 from the UN Tourism Organization. The Best Tourist Village competed with more than 260 applications from 60 countries. Then, the UN Tourism organization recognized the rich and outstanding cultural and natural resources of Tra Que Vegetable Village, along with the village's commitments and actions in compliance with the three main pillars of sustainable tourism development”.
Mr. Hong added: Being honored is a source of pride, a great opportunity for farmers to be more determined to maintain their craft village and get rich. The government and people here need to increasingly improve the protection of the vegetable village, including the landscape, knowledge system, biodiversity and culture, and local activities.
Talking about Tra Que vegetable village, Mr. Nguyen Van Lanh, Vice Chairman of Hoi An City People's Committee said that the implementation of the construction of the green tour route of Tra Que vegetable village is extremely necessary, in order to promote the practice of green tourism model to other tourist attractions in Hoi An City. "The contents that will be implemented include practicing green tourism at the Tra Que vegetable village tour route; Supporting activities, guiding the practice of green tourism at homestay, villa, restaurant and cooking school businesses. Preparing documents to request recognition for homestays and villas; Communicating about the green tour route of Tra Que vegetable village", said Mr. Nguyen Van Lanh.
Mr. Nguyen Van Lanh said that the city government has raised the issue of sustainable development of the heritage of "Tra Que vegetable growing profession". In particular, developing a stopover point in the vegetable village in a quality direction: visitors come to grow vegetables, then come back and enjoy the fruits of their own labor. In addition, the vegetable village will be connected to other locations by bicycle and ecological tours, along with expanding the tourism space of Tra Que vegetable village, preserving and developing the profession but at the same time preserving the peaceful environment here. The People's Committee of Quang Nam province has also approved the task of building a green tour route in Tra Que vegetable village.
Mr. Mai Thanh Hung - Vice Chairman of Cam Ha Commune People's Committee said: Tra Que village has a history of nearly 400 years. Currently, there are more than 200 households growing vegetables in the village with a total area of 18.5 hectares. Tra Que villagers own more than 50 types of vegetables, including typical vegetables such as basil, lettuce, mustard greens;... Previously, in April 2022, the vegetable growing profession in Tra Que was recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and included in the list of national intangible cultural heritage, belonging to the category of folk knowledge and traditional handicrafts.
Source: https://daidoanket.vn/duong-den-danh-hieu-lang-du-lich-tot-nhat-the-gioi-10299182.html
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