Nearly 20 years of research on cherry blossoms
Every spring, a beautiful island on Pa Khoang Lake (Pa Khoang Commune, Dien Bien Phu City) becomes a destination that attracts a large number of locals and tourists. Here, thousands of Japanese cherry blossom trees are competing to show off their colors and stand out among the mountains and forests of the Northwest.
The beautiful flower island area on Pa Khoang Lake currently has thousands of Japanese cherry blossom trees with many different varieties. Sharing with Lao Dong Newspaper, Dr. Tran Le - the owner of the cherry blossom island said that in 2006, he brought the first 10 rare cherry blossom seeds from Japan to Vietnam.
After much care, he was able to grow 9 trees out of 10 seeds. Of these, 4 trees were planted on a deserted island next to Pa Khoang Lake. By 2009, the first cherry blossoms had bloomed, marking an important milestone in his journey to turn his dream into reality.
Talking about the reason for turning the deserted island into a flower island, Mr. Le said that in April 2004, during his visit to Dien Bien to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory, General Vo Nguyen Giap returned to Hanoi and still had a special affection and concern for the land of Muong Phang - where the Dien Bien Phu Campaign Command was located.
After meeting with the General, Mr. Le volunteered to go to Dien Bien to do something practical. From then on, he was determined, researched, successfully tested and published a type of Muong Phang cymbidium and Muong Phang cherry blossom.
After nearly 20 years of research, care, crossbreeding and propagation, now thousands of cherry blossom trees on the beautiful island are competing to show off their colors. Every spring, the flower island puts on a new, brilliant coat. All cherry blossom varieties grown here originate from Japan, carrying the delicate beauty and profound meaning of the land of the rising sun.
Turn a deserted island into a dreamy destination
“At first, there were many difficulties because many people who brought cherry seeds from Japan to Vietnam to plant failed. The reason is that cherry blossom seeds have a very hard and thick shell. Along with that, if you do not have in-depth knowledge of this tree species, when planting, it is very easy for the roots to rot and the tree to die,” said Mr. Le.
Therefore, he had to find a solution to safely separate the seed coat when incubating and when planting seedlings, he had to create a suitable slope so that the soil would not be waterlogged when the roots had not fully developed.
According to Mr. Tran Le, Muong Phang - Pa Khoang (formerly Muong Phang commune, Dien Bien district) is the best land in Dien Bien province. This place is located behind Hoang Lien Son mountain range, winter is not too cold but not too wet. The climate here has created an ideal living environment for cherry blossoms.
In addition, the biggest advantage of this flower island is its prime location, next to the largest reservoir in Dien Bien province. Thanks to its altitude of more than 1,000m above sea level, the climate here is extremely special. In winter, there is no frost, thanks to the warm sunshine during the day and the water vapor rising at night.
Recalling the years when there was no concrete road to reach the flower island, Mr. Le said that visitors had to sit on a canoe for about 10 minutes on the lake. However, thanks to the investment in the concrete road, now traveling to the island is much more convenient.
The cherry blossom island covers an area of about 7 hectares. Currently, there are 20 varieties of cherry blossoms on the island with about 120,000 cherry blossom trees, most of which are Edohigan Zakura, creating a highlight in the middle of Pa Khoang Lake. For many years, every season, the flower island has become a destination for many people to enjoy a peaceful and relaxing feeling.
Mr. Tran Viet Hung - a resident of Dien Bien Phu City, said: "We sincerely thank Mr. Tran Le - the person who brought cherry blossoms to Dien Bien. We hope that our province will soon have a separate area to grow Ban flowers like Mr. Le planted cherry blossoms so that Dien Bien province will have more impressive tourist attractions, attracting a large number of tourists to come and extend their stay."
Previously in 2018, for the first time, Dien Bien province organized the Cherry Blossom Festival to promote tourism and introduce Japanese culture, on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan. Since then, cultural and tourism events of different scales have taken place here every year when the flowers bloom.
In early 2025, the Cherry Blossom Festival - Dien Bien Phu 2025 with the theme "Spring in Muong Village - Cherry Blossoms in Bloom" will take place from January 11 to 12. According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Hung - Chairman of Dien Bien Phu City People's Committee, the Cherry Blossom Festival - Dien Bien Phu 2025 is an activity that contributes to strengthening comprehensive cooperation between Vietnam and Japan. Through the festival, the image of the heroic land of Dien Bien, rich in cultural identity, is further promoted.
In addition, attract and call on Japanese investors and tourists to Dien Bien Phu to explore the possibility of investment cooperation and tourism trade. Promote the development of Pa Khoang - Muong Phang tourist area to turn the flower island into one of the attractive destinations to attract tourists, contributing to enriching the resources and tourism products of Dien Bien.
