Land of unique cultural heritage

Baoquocte.vn. Dien Bien is a mountainous border province in the Northwest region of the country, with 19 ethnic groups living together, each with its own characteristics in terms of language, customs, habits, culture... Here, there is a treasure trove of cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible, extremely unique. Therefore, Dien Bien is considered a land of cultural heritage, an attractive destination for domestic and foreign tourists, a premise for tourism development.

Tourists visit the A1 Hill battlefield relic. (Photo: Xuan Tien)

Land of heritage

By the end of 2023, Dien Bien has 33 recognized and ranked relics, including 1 special national relic (Dien Bien Phu Battlefield relic), 14 national relics, 18 provincial relics). In addition, Dien Bien has 18 cultural heritages included in the List of National Intangible Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, including 2 heritages recognized by UNESCO in the List of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity: Thai Xoe Art Heritage and Then Practice Heritage of the Tay, Nung, and Thai people in Vietnam.

The heritages recognized as tangible and intangible cultural heritages are the honor and pride of the ethnic people of Dien Bien province. Therefore, the authorities at all levels, professional staff and people of Dien Bien always enhance their responsibility to preserve, maintain and develop the heritages.

Activities of research, collection, inventory, evaluation, scientific documentation of cultural heritage, ranking of relics, scenic spots, zoning, marking, restoration, embellishment, restoration of relics, reconstruction of festivals, archaeological investigation, propaganda, dissemination, promotion, introduction of cultural heritages... are carried out according to plan. In which, many traditional festivals are preserved, classes teaching folk songs, folk dances, folk music of ethnic groups are given attention.

Differentiate your tourism products

The attractiveness of heritage has created a driving force for tourism development, bringing many benefits in terms of income, employment and local socio-economic development. Tourism creates many direct and indirect jobs for local workers. Many heritage tourism products have become typical brands for tourism in Dien Bien province, an important factor creating a difference for the system of destinations and tourism products of Dien Bien, connecting and diversifying inter-regional tourism routes.

Thanks to that, the number of tourists coming to Dien Bien is increasing. In 2023, for the first time, Dien Bien reached the milestone of welcoming 1 million visitors, an increase of nearly 25% over the same period last year; total revenue from tourism activities is estimated at over 1,750 billion VND. This is a positive signal, a premise for the province to make a breakthrough in the coming year, striving to build Dien Bien into one of the tourist centers of the Northern Midlands and Mountains region.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Hiep, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dien Bien province, said: Dien Bien province has 19 ethnic groups living together, of which some ethnic groups account for a high proportion in the population structure such as Thai, Mong, Kinh... The ethnic groups in Dien Bien province basically preserve their traditional culture, social customs and beliefs, traditional crafts, traditional festivals, folk performing arts, folk knowledge... which are potentials for tourism development.

Every year, the Department advises the Provincial People's Committee to successfully organize the Ban Flower Festival, and also coordinates and guides Dien Bien district to successfully organize the Hoang Cong Chat Temple Festival. Muong Lay organizes the Swallow-tailed Boat Racing Festival.

Thai Xoe dance art was honored as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. (Photo: Xuan Tien)

The Department also focuses on restoring and preserving the Water Festival (Bun Huot Nam) of the Lao ethnic group; the Village Worshiping Festival (Te hroi cung) of the Kho Mu ethnic group; the Harvest Praying Festival of the Si La ethnic group; the Fire Dancing Festival of the Dao ethnic group; the Harvest Praying Festival of the Kho Mu people; the Village Worshiping Festival (Ga ma thu) of the Ha Nhi people...

At the same time, direct the Cultural and Cinema Center to open classes to teach Thai Xoe art; Dien Bien district to open classes to teach Thai Xoe art and Lam Vong dance of the Lao ethnic group; districts to organize mass art performances, ethnic cultural festivals, ethnic solidarity festivals, etc.

Identifying cultural heritage as an invaluable resource, the work of preserving the cultural heritage of ethnic groups is the most important task in the current period of cultural integration and cultural exchange. On the basis of inheriting the cultural quintessence of previous generations, the preservation and promotion are being concretized by specific activities that contribute to making the value of cultural heritage of ethnic groups permeate and spread deeply into social life.

Chairman of Dien Bien Provincial People's Committee Le Thanh Do said that 2024 is a year of special significance for the people of all ethnic groups in the province. This is the year Dien Bien hosts the National Tourism Year, commemorating the 70th anniversary of the historic Dien Bien Phu Victory. Hosting the National Tourism Year - Dien Bien 2024 is of great significance to the province.

This is the premise and driving force for the tourism industry to develop into a spearhead economic sector, one of the tourism centers of the Northern Midlands and Mountains region. The target for 2024 is to welcome 1.3 million tourists, with total revenue from this activity reaching about 2,200 billion VND; in 2025, to reach more than 1.45 million visitors, with total revenue of more than 2,380 billion VND; by 2030, to reach more than 2.65 million visitors and more than 5,000 billion VND, respectively.

“To preserve and promote the cultural values ​​of heritages, Dien Bien province focuses on investing in building, upgrading and renovating transport infrastructure, especially in localities where typical cultural heritages of ethnic groups exist, so as to link tourism development with environmental protection. Along with that, maintaining and improving the effectiveness of intangible cultural heritages included in the list of national intangible cultural heritages by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to create more destinations for tourism development in Dien Bien province,” Mr. Le Thanh Do emphasized.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/dien-bien-mien-dat-cua-nhung-di-san-van-hoa-dac-sac-264152.html