Mu Cang Chai, don't miss the golden rice season

Mong people do tourism

After many days of hard work, the rice stalks have blossomed on the hills. The color of the rice gradually changes from green to yellow, making many young men and women yearn. From Cao Pha to Ho Bon, everywhere the yellow color of rice has become a symbol of vitality, a sign of prosperity.

Unlike the plains or midlands, the Mong people's rice fields in Mu Cang Chai, in addition to providing a full daily meal, have also directly generated revenue from tourism. Mong farmers who work hard all year round, "selling their faces to the land and their backs to the sky", have suddenly been "Westernized" to become tour guides, drivers for tourists, owners of community houses, and directors of tourism cooperatives. Their income has thus multiplied many times over.

In a place where people not only live on rice but also get rich and prosperous from the color and aroma of rice, each autumn is the harvest time both literally and figuratively for the locals. When the rice fields turn yellow and the sun slowly pours down on the mountainside, it is also the time when tourists from all over the world, photographers, and streamers flock to this land at the end of the world to enjoy the golden autumn colors on the stairs to heaven.

Mr. Vang A Thao, a tour guide in Mo De commune (Mu Cang Chai - Yen Bai), shared that in the past, people in Mu Cang Chai only waited for the golden rice season to harvest to warm their stomachs, and did not know what else to do. Since tourism has come, people have more jobs, some work as tour guides, some as drivers, some as house cleaners, some as cooks, so everyone hopes that the rice will be both full of grains and retain its golden color for a long time so that more tourists will come and they will have more income.

The beautiful scenery at Vong Lua, Mo De commune.

Next to the famous Mam Xoi Hill rice field, Tran Luan - a photographer from Lao Cai confided that these past few days he has been sleeping in La Pan Tan waiting to "hunt" for the golden moment of the rice season. The first Monday of last week was sunny, but the sun was not consistent in the middle of the week, so he had to hold his breath and wait until around 3-4 pm to be able to "pull the trigger" to fully update the photo set of the golden season in 2024.

As the head of a collective economic unit, Mr. Ly A Do, Director of the Mam Xoi Hill Tourism Cooperative, believes that the beauty of Mu Cang Chai is the terraced fields that turn golden yellow like wild honey every autumn. From practical experience and the orientation of building tourism in a green, harmonious, and unique direction, it contributes to spreading and attracting not only domestic but also foreign tourists to come and explore. Thanks to the methodical and focused approach to tourism, Mong farmers have a significant additional income from tourism services such as selling goods, staying, cooking, or driving motorbike taxis to serve tourists.

Golden season after storm

Mr. Pham Tien Lam, Secretary of the Party Committee of La Pan Tan Commune, began the story with a sad voice, regretting a golden season. Mr. Lam said that this year is a memorable golden season for Mu Cang Chai, basically this year's rice harvest is quite good, but the revenue from tourism is not significant. In September, continuous rain and floods, especially the impact of storm No. 3 (Yagi), many tourist groups had to be cautious, so they postponed and canceled their trips to Mu Cang Chai even though they had plans and booked rooms in advance. There are few tourists, and Mam Xoi Hill is also less crowded this year.

Sharing the same sentiment, Mr. Tran Van Lich, Secretary of the Party Committee of Mu Cang Chai town, shared that for many years, the town has focused all its resources on building the Khim Noi Community Cultural Tourism Village to promote tourism development systematically and bring in stable income. This year, the impact of storm No. 3 was too severe and persistent, causing anxiety and fear, causing many people to miss the golden season. Mu Cang Chai tourism was severely affected. Especially in September, the town's Khim Noi Community Cultural Village was deserted.

Mam Xoi La Pan Tan Hill in the golden rice season.

Ms. Tran Thu Uyen, manager of Suoi Kim 2 Homestay (Pung Luong commune) said that in the golden season of 2023, her family earned over 600 million VND from renting rooms to guests. This year, guests who booked rooms in September almost all canceled because of concerns about storms. According to the district's direction, her family has refunded the entire room reservation amount to guests, the amount is up to 200 million VND, so it is enough to see that the level of damage to tourism due to storms is very large.

The impact of storm No. 3 caused great damage to property, crops and the transportation system of Mu Cang Chai district, many tourism activities had to be postponed such as; Son Tra Festival 2024; Mu Cang Chai tourism workshop - destination "Identity, Safety, Friendliness"; Bamboo weaving competition; Son Tra culinary competition; Fast rice harvesting and beautiful embankment building competition; Goat fighting competition and some other ancillary activities.

According to the Department of Culture and Information of Mu Cang Chai district, from September 8 to 30, the number of guests canceling rooms was 35,000, the number of rooms canceled was 1,500, the room cancellation fee was estimated at 7.5 billion VND. The cost of other services including food and beverage services, shopping, motorbike taxi services, paragliding and other expenses is estimated to decrease revenue by 33.25 billion VND. The total estimated loss is about 40.75 billion VND.

Faced with the impact of storms and floods, the People's Committee of Mu Cang Chai district has directed tourism service businesses to implement measures to restore and develop tourism after the circulation of storm No. 3. At the same time, Mu Cang Chai has introduced a policy to support tourists, share the difficulties of tourists who have to cancel their trips and change their schedules, and refund 100% of their deposits to contribute to building the image of Mu Cang Chai tourism as a destination of "Identity - Safety - Friendliness".

Mai Anh, a female tourist from Vinh Phuc, said that she initially booked a room at the end of September, but then due to concerns about the weather affecting the safety of the trip, she had to cancel her schedule and the homestay owner refunded her deposit. In early October, Mai Anh continued to book a room and arrived in Mu Cang Chai and was surprised by the beautiful weather and atmosphere of the golden rice season, beyond imagination. If she missed the appointment to see the golden rice season in Mu Cang Chai this year, it would be a pity, the female tourist shared.

Tourists can transform into Mong girls on the rice fields of Mu Cang Chai.

Mr. Trinh The Binh, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Mu Cang Chai district, said that the consequences of storm No. 3 (Yagi) caused heavy losses to the district's tourism in September 2024. However, entering October 2024, the weather was more stable and favorable, so the number of visitors to Mu Cang Chai to welcome the golden season increased significantly. Thanks to this miraculous recovery, service facilities were somewhat less gloomy, local people also had more jobs and income, and tourism activities gradually returned to normal.

Statistics show that in October, Mu Cang Chai district welcomed and served about 67,200 visitors, with revenue reaching 67 billion VND. In the first 10 months of 2024, it attracted 331,472 visitors, reaching 94.7% of the plan, with tourism revenue reaching 327.3 billion VND, reaching 93.5% of the plan, of which foreign visitors reached 23,718.

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/mu-cang-chai-khong-lo-hen-mua-lua-vang-post531961.html