All the three provinces share the Yen Tu relic and landscape complex with five main areas, with Quang Ninh being the center. Quang Ninh has two separate relic sites: Dong Yen Tu (eastern Yen Tu) in Uong Bi city and Tran Dynasty historical relic site in Dong Trieu. In addition, there are the Tay Yen Tu (western Yen Tu) relic site spanning the four districts of Son Dong, Yen Dung, Luc Nam and Luc Ngan of Bac Giang province and the Con Son - Kiep Bac - Thanh Mai relic site of Hai Duong province.

Vinh Nghiem Pagoda (Tri Yen commune, Yen Dung district, Bac Giang province), is considered to be the place where Buddhist monks were trained, the three founders of the Truc Lam Zen sect of Vietnamese Buddhism originated, and the only original set of woodblocks of the sect is being kept.

This complex has a beautiful natural landscape and cultural space in harmony with special art structures stretching through the three provinces. With its historical, cultural, artistic and architectural values of special importance, the Yen Tu relic and landscape complex has many relics recognized as provincial, national and special national heritages, including four special national relic sites.

Prof. Dr. Truong Quoc Binh, member of the National Cultural Heritage Council and former Director of the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum, said in addition to the confirmed historical and cultural values, the Yen Tu relic complex also boasts ecological landscape. This is a typical representative area of the ecological landscape in the three provinces since it gathers all the typical topographic elements of forest, mountain, midland, delta and sea. The diversity of natural factors inevitably leads to cultural diversity, including religions, especially Zen Buddhism, customs, and beliefs. In addition, this complex is also home to many traditional and modern festivals that attract a large number of Buddhists and visitors from all walks of life

Coming to Yen Tu, visitors can experience many unique tourism products.

According to Assoc.Prof. Dr. Tran Le Bao from the Hanoi Pedagogical University, the Yen Tu cultural and spiritual space also features festival culture bearing the spiritual elements relating to religions and beliefs. Traditional festivals in Yen Tu include all folk festivals taking place in the cultural space of Quang Ninh, Hai Duong and Bac Giang provinces. Despite bearing many common features of Vietnamese festival culture, depending on those worshipped, geographical conditions, and living conditions of the local communities, festivals in each place have different variations.

Prof. Dr. Le Hong Ly, Chairman of the Vietnam Folk Arts Association, said “the Yen Tu cultural space will cover all cultural values of Yen Tu. Only the intangible cultural heritages are diverse and rich, not to mention tangible heritages and landscapes. Here, I would like to mention one type to see the richness of the Yen Tu cultural space, which is folk festival. According to the space of the Yen Tu range, the folk festivals in this area not only belong to the Yen Tu area but also form part of a chain of festivals throughout the Yen Tu range spanning Hai Duong, Bac Giang and Quang Ninh provinces”.

Therefore, folk festivals and other types do not stop at one point but spread over a large space and have a connection between places to become an attractive cultural and spiritual space. Moreover, these festivals are not simple religious festivals like pilgrimages to the land of the Buddha, but there are many folk festivals taking place around this area, creating an attractive and sacred cultural and religious space for pilgrims from all over the country.

Tourism is seen as a strong driver to preserve cultural values and revenues that tourism generates can be shipped back to sustainable tourism development. If tourism is well tapped and managed to create a link between localities sharing the heritage, it will bring positive benefits to cultural resources, preserve cultural diversity, and be a reference for development.

This becomes more significant when the three provinces are making a dossier to seek UNESCO recognition of the Yen Tu complex as a world heritage.

Weather forecast for nighttime 23th March and full day of 24st March, 2021

Vietnamese horror movie to be shown across Asia

Le Van Kiet’s ‘Bong De’ (The Ancestral), which has attracted the attention of international movie distributors, is set for theatrical releases in a dozen Asian markets.

Japanese GI certificate: "Passport" for Luc Ngan lychee to enter fastidious markets

(BGO) - Luc Ngan lychee is the first product of Vietnam that has been officially granted a geographical indication (GI) certificate in Japan. This event marks an important milestone and is a new opportunity for lychee exports to many different markets. On this occasion, Bac Giang Newspaper interviewed Nguyen Thanh Binh, Director of the provincial Department of Science and Technology, on this event.

Huynh Dang