This place is considered a "living museum" of this ethnic minority with the ancient Shan Tuyet tea forest and unique traditional cultural features that are still preserved.
That is the community tourism village - Sung hamlet, in Cao Son commune. The village is located at an altitude of 530m above sea level, so the climate is cool all year round. In particular, the people here are preserving the ancient Shan Tuyet tea forest located deep in the majestic Bieu mountain.
No one here knows the exact life of the tea forest, but only knows that, from the time they are born until they get old, the tea trees with their trunks still lie there, growing green buds to absorb the essence of the sky and earth to create a premium tea.
Ancient tea forest hidden in the vastness
In the past, the Dao people had the habit of traveling and becoming nomads, now they are there. They will choose fertile forests to live in. Therefore, many people call them "foresters".
For the people of Sung hamlet, instead of here and there, they have settled in the heart of Bieu mountain, which has been around for more than 3 centuries. Perhaps, because the land was suitable for birds to nest, the Dao Xom Sung people have settled down and are now settling down in this land.
Having visited Sung hamlet many times, every time we return, we feel the change in Dao village. Previously, the only road from the center of Cao Son commune to Sung had not been expanded or hardened, it took half a day to travel to the center of the hamlet.
For about 10 years now, the road has been opened and hardened smoothly. Sum has more than 70 roofs, the hamlet is located in the heart of Bieu mountain, on the porch of traditional houses with trees and crocodiles hundreds of years old protecting the village.
People in Sung hamlet are hospitable, so every time they come to their house, they make Shan Tuyet tea to treat customers. The premium tea is harvested from ancient Shan Tuyet sweet soup with golden water color, after enjoying it, the sweetness in its mouth remains the pride of the people of Sung hamlet.
"I have heard many people talk about the ancient Shan Tuyet tea forest of Sung hamlet, but I did not expect the tea tree to be so large" - Ms. Vi Thi Hong Tham, a resident of Da Bac town, was surprised when she first "received the precious tea forest".
According to Ms. Ly Sao Mai, coordinator of Da Bac Community Tourism Company in Sung hamlet, the shan Tuyet tea tree has been attached to the people for hundreds of years, growing everywhere in Bieu mountain. In the past, the ancient tea forest had thousands of trees. But over time, some old trees were cut down, most of them when people spread out to work in the fields.
Currently, the number of precious ancient tea trees has decreased significantly. The natural characteristics of this precious tree are also quite special. They grow in the care of old forests, if people clear the surrounding trees, it will reduce the development of Shan Tuyet tea, and some trees will even die.
The head of the hamlet was swollen, Ly Van Nghia shared more, the collection of tea was quite feat. People have to wake up from the early morning to go to the mountain to pick tea. Due to the tall old tea tree, it is necessary to use a ladder to climb to pick each bud. Tea products are crafted and packaged by people to become a gift that visitors prefer when visiting the village. In addition to the ancient tea trees growing naturally in Bieu mountain, now, the village has a few hectares of tea from 15-20 years old and some new planting areas.
Dao village has many unique tourism products
After many years of being nurtured in countless difficulties and challenges, Sung hamlet has now become an attractive destination for visitors. Besides ancient Shan Tuyet tea, Sung hamlet is also a place that preserves the precious traditional cultural values.
We visited the family of Mr. Ly Van Henh, a village elder, right when he was tirelessly teachingom - Dao to children. In a simple space, Mr. Henh not only teaches literacy, but also teaches "meaning" to children.
Mr. Henh said: "This Nom - Dao class has been maintained for many years. In addition to my time in class, I also teach extra classes at home. Learning to read and write helps children understand their roots, absorb the culture and living standards of their ethnic group. From there, the children will be more proud, live well and stay away from bad things".
In today's Sung hamlet, not only there are literacy classes, but many traditional occupations of the Dao Tien people are gradually being restored. One of them is brocade weaving. In the corner of Ms. Ly Thi Thien's small house, indigo-dyed fabric with the color of mountains and forests is being decorated with elaborate patterns drawn from beeswax. Her hands are winding, each line appears vividly as if telling the story of the village.
Ms. Thien shared that her Dao daughter started learning embroidery and weaving when she was 10 years old. A traditional costume must go through many stages of elaborate steps: From finding indigo leaves, soaking, taking indigoot to dye the fabric, to painting bee wax, exposing it to the sun, cooking fabric before putting it on the laurel wreath.
"Since the hamlet developed tourism and was supported by projects, we have established a brocade weaving group with 12 members. Now, each costume is not only worn in festivals, but is also a tourism product of the village. Visitors can see the brocade weaving stages with their own eyes, even try hand weaving, everyone is excited, Ms. Thien said.
The cultural space imbued with identity and the spirit of preservation of the people have contributed to creating a village of Sung that is both primitive and poetic in the midst of a thousand years. According to Ms. Thien, tourism has changed the face of the village, increasing income for many families.
Her family and many households in the hamlet have now registered to do community tourism, opening homestays to serve tourists. People hope to continue to participate in tourism skills training, access preferential capital sources to expand scale, and do tourism more systematically and sustainably.
Mr. Luong Van Thi - Chairman of Da Bac District People's Committee, affirmed: "Conserving and promoting cultural identity is a guideline in developing community tourism. As for Sung hamlet, the district is focusing on developing according to the plan, supporting people to improve their tourism skills, especially restoring the unique traditional values of the Dao Tien people to develop tourism sustainably and effectively".
Coming to Sung hamlet, in addition to living in traditional cultural space, visitors can also explore other famous community tourism destinations of the mountainous district of Da Bac. Typically, Da Bia hamlet (Tien Phong commune), Ke hamlet (Hien Luong commune), and take the opportunity to admire the Da river reservoir - known as "Ha Long Bay on the shore" of Hoa Binh.
