New routes help tourists discover Hà Nội's destinations

Joining the "Exploring the heritage road in South Thăng Long" tour, people will travel from the city centre to the outlying districts of Thanh Oai, Ứng Hòa and Mỹ Đức. Traditional craft villages and cultural heritage will be the highlights of Hà Nội's tourism in 2024 as the local authorities have planned new tour routes to lead visitors to the city's undiscovered suburbs.
The first destination is the Nội Bình Đà Temple-Communal House in Thanh Oai, which is about 20km from Hà Nội centre. Visitors will learn about the architecture, cultural and historical values ​​of the temple worshipping the nation's legendary founder Lạc Long Quân. They will listen to the myth of Dragon King Lạc Long Quân and Mountain Goddess Âu Cơ. After their marriage, Âu Cơ gave birth to a sac containing 100 eggs from which 100 children were born; this is the origin of the Vietnamese people. The story is told in different places in the country, but only at the Nội Bình Đà Temple can visitors admire the famed bas-relief of Lạc Long Quân, which was recognised as a national treasure in 2015.
The bas-relief depicts the nation founder seated on a throne, wearing a crown and an imperial cloak, while watching a boat race with characters from the Hùng Kings era. "Actually, no one knows exactly when the bas-relief was made. We could only tell that it was made a long time ago. It is more than 600 years old," temple custodian Nguyễn Chính Chinh told Việt Nam News. "The precious treasure is a gilded rare wood carving. Many archaeologists have proposed to rank our temple-communal house as a special national historical site, to express gratitude and honour to nation father Lạc Long Quân," he said.

Earlier in 2014, the National Founder Lạc Long Quân Temple Festival, which is held annually from the fourth to the sixth days of the third lunar month, was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage.
 
From Nội Bình Đà, visitors travel 20km to reach Quảng Phú Cầu Village in neighbouring Ứng Hòa. The village is well known for its century-old craft of making incense sticks and is now a most eye-catching craft destination with exuberance and selfies galore. All pavements and roads in the village are coloured with the pink and red of incense sticks, while its gentle scent makes people feel relaxed when walking around. Bundles of incense look like giant flowers, which are shaped into beautiful mini-scenes.
"Usually, we produce the incense sticks in pink and red. The other colours are for tourism purposes only," said villager Đỗ Thị Tâm. Tâm and other artisans in Quảng Phú Cầu are happy to show tourists the technique of making incense sticks traditionally. It was no problem if anyone wanted to try the producing process from splitting the bamboo tube into thin sticks to dying, shaping and drying them, she said. In the yard, visitors feel free to snap photographs. Here, they can enjoy local cuisine such as bánh đúc (plain rice flan), bánh khúc (cudweed sticky rice cake) and fish rice soup.

"We welcomed visitors from different countries such as India, France and South Korea every day. They come to learn about our ancient craft and the village's story and culture," said Nguyễn Đức Bình, head of Ứng Hòa District's Culture and Information Department. "We will upgrade the infrastructure, environment, landscape, and our speciality products to draw in more tourists to our village."
Leaving Quảng Phú Cầu, it is only 10km to Phùng Xá Village with its renowned silk craft in Mỹ Đức District. Here, visitors can experience picking mulberry leaves to feed silkworms, spinning yarn and especially making lotus silk with master artisan Phan Thị Thuận - a 70-year-old woman has worked with silk most of her life, aiding the revival of the traditional craft village.

Phan Huy Cường, of the Hà Nội's Department of Tourism, said that the new routes would help connect localities and itineraries and bring new products and experiences to tourists in 2024.