Lang Son (VNS/VNA) - When visitingthe northern province of Lang Son, Bac Son district’s Quynh Son commune isoften the first stop for tourists who wish to experience local life throughhomestays.

Located some 170km northeast of Hanoi, Lang Son played a rolein the historic Bac Son Uprising against the French in 1940. The area has notonly beautiful natural landscapes but also traditional cultural valueshighlighted by tours to the village.

Chu Thi Thu Phuong, Director of Quynh Son commune’s HomestayManagement Board, said the commune has 460 families with 1,800 people residingin six villages, 90 percent of whom are part of the Tay ethnic group.

After a 2010 survey, concerned agencies decided to set up the first fivehomestay services in five family homes.

There are now eight families offering the service and 20other households are preparing to register.

Duong Cong Chai, who was among the first five familieshosting guests, said he now has eight rooms for guests to stay overnight.

“Each year, I receive nearly 800 guests, 15-20 per cent ofwhom are foreigners,” he said.

In the first eight months of this year, Chai received 60groups of visitors with 500 people staying overnight.

From a nearby mountain peak, one can see the whole Bac Sonvalley with its colourful rice fields – green at the beginning of rice plantingseason and yellow in harvest season.

Bac Son town appears in the skyline with various modernbuildings, which are in stark contrast with the houses on stilts in Tayvillages.

Tay people in the northern mountainous region, especially theones in Quynh Son commune, have long lived in houses on stilts. On the firstfloor, they store agricultural products and raise cattle and poultry. Theliving room, bedroom and kitchen are on the upper floor. Some of them buildhouses to keep animals separate from the main living area.

In wealthy families, walls of the main house are madeof lim (iron wood), while families with less income may use cheaperwood or bamboo.

Most of the houses on stilts in the area are roofed withyin-yang tiles, a kind of construction material produced by the Tay group inthe commune.

“Yin-yang tile lasts for long time,” said Duong Cong Chich, alocal.
“Some houses have been there for 60 years but the roof is still in goodcondition.”

Houses roofed with yin-yang tiles are cool in the summer andwarm in the winter, he said.

The tile is made by a careful process from clay from the ricefields, which is sliced into small pieces. The clay pieces are then sprayedwith water for 20 days to make them more soft and elastic. Workers put the clayinto moulds to make curved tiles, which are left to dry in the sun for one totwo months before being put in oven to bake for ten days. The completed tile isextremely hard but is not easily broken.

There are 30 families in Quynh Son commune producing thematerial for customers in the province and other neigbouring areas.

Tourists coming to the commune can taste local delicacieslike fish steamed with lemongrass, boiled chicken and black sticky rice cake.
The black glutinous cake is made of sticky rice planted onthe mountain, beans and ash.

After washing and soaking rice and beans in water, fire ashis added along with salt and pork, then the whole package is wrappedin dong leaves. The cake is boiled, and then sliced into small piecescontaining various colours: the white of fatty pork, the yellow of the beansand the dark brown of rice mixed with ash.

At night, tourists are entertained with folk musicperformances by locals.

Phuong said around 40 locals are divided into two teams toserve guests. Interested visitors can join the performance as well.

In day time, tourists can join locals to fish, farm and maketraditional food, or can visit historical sites like Nong Luc Communal Housebuilt under the Nguyen Dynasty (1802-1945), Bac Son Guerilla Museum, Mo NhaiFrench Military Station and Vu Lang Shooting Site.-VNS/VNA