When young people choose traditional culture

With love and passion for culture, with youthful energy, creativity and the spirit of daring to think and dare to do, young entrepreneurs in community tourism in Quang Ninh such as Nguyen Trung Kien and Le Minh Thu are actively contributing to the development of Quang Ninh tourism that is both integrated and unique. For them, traditional culture is the choice for difference and sustainability.

Returning to Am Vap Farm - a community tourism model in Khe Phuong village (Ky Thuong commune, Ha Long city), more than 6 months since the captains and deputy captains of the Clipper Race boat team visited this tourist village, we noticed a clear change. After repairing the damage caused by storm Yagi, from October 26, Am Vap Farm welcomed guests back with more experiential activities: A hut built of bamboo in the style of a traditional Dao house was set up right in front of the restaurant area for visitors to directly buy agricultural products from the Dao people and to experience pounding rice for visitors. More happily, this year, two more households in Khe Phuong have registered to participate in the community tourism development model.

Am Vap Farm reopens after the storm with many new experiences for visitors.

Nearly 5 years ago, when he and his like-minded friends went to the mountainous area of Ha Long City, looking for a suitable location and opportunity to develop community tourism, Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien (born in 1982, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Am Vap Farm Joint Stock Company), former Chairman of the Hoanh Bo Startup Club, must have placed great faith and seen the potential for developing community tourism here. And today, when Am Vap Farm has flourished, becoming a bright spot of Ha Long as well as the province in developing community tourism, Mr. Kien is even more confident in doing sustainable tourism from culture.

“Doing community tourism is a very difficult story. It is not only about having capital that can do it, but more importantly, it is about gaining the consensus and support of the people, relying on the people, relying on the indigenous culture. In order for the people to trust and accompany you, you must be close, eat, live, and work together, and become a child of the village. In Ky Thuong, I would like to be called Ban Kien. On holidays and Tet, I also wear traditional clothes like the people, and visit the houses of the elders, the grandfathers, and the uncles to wish them a happy new year. Besides, to do cultural tourism, you also have to spend time carefully studying the customs and practices of the people. Only then will the built products truly have a solid and original cultural foundation.”

Tourists experience pounding rice with the Dao people.

Born 2 years after Am Vap Farm, the tourism product "Memory Market" by Mr. Le Minh Thu (born in 1986, Director of Thanh Long Investment, Trade and Tourism Company Limited) is a new cultural tourism product of Ha Long City in 2024, creating many unique impressions. Coming to the market, visitors will be able to admire and contemplate old items, antiques, decades-old souvenirs that have been associated with the lives and daily activities of many Vietnamese people, items from the subsidy period that have accompanied the people of Quang Ninh through a difficult time. "Memory Market" as its name suggests has touched a full, nostalgic emotion for many people in Quang Ninh. Standing in front of simple stalls, many visitors, although strangers, easily confided in each other about their memories with the chicken iron or Rang Dong thermos...

The "Memory Market" held outside the Quang Ninh Provincial Museum attracted a large number of visitors. *Photo: Provided by the character*

Every week, the Memory Market opens on Saturdays outside the Quang Ninh Provincial Museum and on Sundays at the Ha Long International Passenger Port. “I want to create an emotional tourism product for visitors. When coming to the Memory Market, through old and antique items, people will remember a difficult past that everyone cherished and respected. As for foreign visitors, I hope that through small items with stories behind them, they will understand and love more the cultural lifestyle, the industrious and hard-working nature of the Vietnamese people,” said Mr. Le Minh Thu.

Not stopping at developing their own business model, in September 2024, Mr. Nguyen Trung Kien and Le Minh Thu joined the Quang Ninh Community Tourism Club (under the Provincial Tourism Association). As Vice Presidents of the Club, the two 8X youths are contributing to those who are passionate about the traditional culture of Quang Ninh to build unique tourism products such as supporting the development of discovery tourism products, building a community tourism model with guava markets, recreating costumes and traditional art performances of the San Diu people in Son Duong commune (Ha Long city) and helping villagers in Dai Duc commune to establish a tourism cooperative...

When young people are passionate about culture and live responsibly with the culture left by their ancestors, Quang Ninh promises to have more unique tourism products and the appearance of remote villages and hamlets of the province will change and shine more and more.

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