Lo Lo Chai - a mark on the stone plateau

Many community cultural tourism villages in Ha Giang have been established, not only contributing positively to the local socio-economic development, improving the spiritual and cultural life of the people but also contributing to preserving and promoting the cultural values of ethnic minorities. One of them is Lo Lo Chai Community Cultural Tourism Village.

Indigenous culture - material for tourism products

*French tourists enjoy cuisine at the homestay of Mr. Sinh Di Gai's family (standing on the right).*

Lo Lo Chai community cultural tourism village is located at the foot of Dragon Mountain (Lung Cu commune, Dong Van district, Ha Giang province), only 1km from Lung Cu flagpole. This is home to 114 households of the Black Lo Lo and Mong ethnic groups, mainly Lo Lo people. Through many ups and downs, the ethnic people here still fully preserve the material and spiritual cultural values, expressed through the architecture of rammed earth houses, traditional crafts such as embroidery, brocade weaving, carpentry... Folk dances and unique traditional festivals are also preserved and promoted, especially 26 dances performed by bronze drums in lullabies, wedding songs, funeral songs, love songs... These rich folk cultural forms are the materials for building tourism products under the Lo Lo Chai brand.

From the moment visitors set foot in Lo Lo Chai village, they are captivated by the serenity and peace of the rammed earth houses hidden behind the blooming flowers of all four seasons. By the window, Lo Lo women in traditional costumes skillfully embroider and weave colorful brocade fabrics. Thanks to the unique skills preserved, in 2022, the traditional folk craft knowledge of "The art of decorating costumes of the Black Lo Lo people" was recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage. Along with that, Lo Lo Chai village is also recognized as a typical Cultural Tourism Village associated with the One Commune One Product (OCOP) Program of Ha Giang province.

Coming to Lo Lo Chai, visitors have the opportunity to stay with local households, experience planting and harvesting seasonal vegetables; enjoy royal beans, men men, smoked meat, thang co, buckwheat beer... In addition, visitors can visit Lung Cu flagpole, milestone 428... These experiences bring visitors many interesting emotions mixed with pride when setting foot on the sacred land at the headland of the Fatherland.

Prosperity thanks to tourism

Looking at Lo Lo Chai changing day by day with fully equipped service infrastructure, electricity and clean water, and concreted village roads, few people know that nearly two decades ago, this place used to be a remote and backward village, where people's lives faced many difficulties. Since the development of the community tourism model, the appearance of the village has really improved, including the role of the person who laid the foundation. That is the Deputy Secretary of the Party Cell, Head of Sinh Di Gai Village, who has researched and learned, turning his family's over 100-year-old house into an attractive homestay for tourists. Sharing about this, Head of Sinh Di Gai Village said: "My family started doing homestay in 2008 by chance. At first, only 1-2 people came to stay overnight, then tourists told each other to come more often. In 2017, I built another house in the traditional architectural style, thanks to which, the capacity to receive guests increased from 10 to 40 people/night, thereby giving my family more income."

From his own practical experience, the Head of Sinh Di Gai village has encouraged people to develop the homestay model. Along with that is the companionship of Ha Giang province when supporting non-refundable 60 million VND for each household to build a homestay; the Provincial Farmers' Association provides low-interest loans to households doing tourism. In addition, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Ha Giang also opens foreign language training classes, cooking, explaining, and equipping people with knowledge of doing tourism. Up to now, Lo Lo Chai village has 32 homestays qualified to welcome guests, the remaining households participate in providing food to serve guests.

Currently, Lo Lo Chai welcomes an average of 1,000 tourists per month, of which 60% are international visitors. Thanks to the additional income from tourism, the number of poor households in the village has decreased from 70 to 16. The quality of life of the people has improved. “Many families have up to 2 motorbikes, 2 TVs, every house has wifi; children go to school regularly. In particular, many old customs and practices no longer exist. If in the past, women were not allowed to eat with the family, now all members gather around the dinner table. Funeral customs have been shortened from 7 days to 24 to 48 hours...” - Mr. Sinh Di Gai said.

Witnessing the dramatic changes in Lo Lo Chai, French tourist Lise Sur happily shared: “I came here more than 10 years ago. When I came back, I was surprised by the speed of development and changes here. The transportation system has been improved, the landscape is cleaner and more beautiful, the traditional space is well preserved. The people here are still friendly and kind. My friends were deeply impressed by the delicious food, beautiful scenery and wonderful weather.”

According to Hanoi Moi Newspaper

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