Linh Son: An attractive tourist destination

Tourists offer incense at Meo Pagoda.

Coming to Linh Son land, visitors do not forget to visit the Meo Pagoda associated with the Lam Son uprising led by Hero Le Loi against the rule of the Ming Dynasty. The Meo Pagoda has another name, Dinh Mieu Thien Tu, located on a hill, on the left of the pagoda is the Pu Bang mountain range, on the right is the Pu Rinh mountain range, in front is the Am River.

Venerable Thich Nguyen Hai, abbot of the pagoda, said that Meo Pagoda was built in the 13th century by the Tran Dynasty princess - Chu Huyen and the Lang Muong Chinh family (at that time the pagoda was called Chu Pagoda). Legend has it that in the spring of 1418, Le Loi raised the flag of uprising against the invading Ming army. Upon hearing the news, the Ming army concentrated all its forces to suppress and destroy the insurgent army. Although the force was thin, the Lam Son insurgent army still fought steadfastly, but due to the great correlation, Le Loi took the initiative to fight and retreat to Muong Mot, a deep forest with dangerous terrain (now Bat Mot commune) to preserve the force for long-term fighting. During this period, facing the fierce pursuit of the enemy, Le Loi repeatedly brought his troops to the mountainous area of Lang Chanh (a place name before July 1, 2025). Once, the Lam Son insurgent army took refuge in Chu Pagoda before the pursuit of the Ming invaders. Seeing that there was only a cat left in the pagoda, he ordered the insurgent army to take it with him. After driving the Ming army out of the country, Le Loi ascended the throne, then restored Chu Pagoda and changed its name to Meo Pagoda.

With its unique cultural and historical values, in 2005, Meo Pagoda was recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a provincial historical and cultural relic. Every year, on the 6th and 7th of January, Linh Son commune organizes the traditional Meo Pagoda festival. Local people often come here to pray for peace and blessings; monks and Buddhists join hands to restore and embellish the worshiping structures, becoming a place for spiritual activities of ethnic people in and outside Linh Son commune.

On the journey to explore Linh Son land, from Meo pagoda, visitors move to Nang Cat village. Coming here, visitors can explore Ma Hao waterfall originating from Pu Rinh peak with an altitude of more than 1,000m associated with the Lam Son uprising, stay in traditional stilt houses, enjoy unique singing and dancing performances of the Thai ethnic people. Coming to Nang Cat village in the third lunar month, visitors will be immersed in the Chi Linh Son festival. This is a festival to commemorate the merits of National Hero Le Loi; honor the cultural and historical values of the locality, educate the tradition of solidarity and patriotism...

Head of Nang Cat village Lo Van Duan said: In order to promote potential and advantages, in recent times, Nang Cat village has actively promoted and mobilized households with conditions to invest in building and renovating traditional stilt houses, creating green, clean and beautiful natural landscapes... to develop community tourism . From the beginning of 2025 until now, Linh Son commune has attracted nearly 30,000 visitors to visit and experience. Tourism development has created jobs for dozens of local workers with an income of 4 to 5 million VND/person/month.

Coming to Linh Son, tourists can not only learn and explore the beauty of Meo Pagoda, Nang Cat village, Le Loi temple relic, May waterfall, majestic natural landscapes, but also immerse themselves in the cultural space of the Thai and Muong ethnic groups, enjoy dishes imbued with the culinary culture of the local people... However, despite many potentials and advantages, tourism development in Linh Son commune still has many limitations such as: The number of visitors to the locality is increasing but the number of guests staying is low; traffic roads to tourist attractions have not been invested synchronously; have not attracted many investors to provide entertainment, recreation and dining services...

Currently, along with investment in building traffic infrastructure and grassroots cultural institutions, Linh Son commune is mobilizing households with conditions to renovate their houses, create green, clean and beautiful landscapes to develop community tourism; calling on potential businesses to explore opportunities and cooperate in investing in tourism development; coordinating with functional agencies to open training courses to improve knowledge of tourism profession and food hygiene and safety for households participating in community tourism.

Article and photos: Manh Hai

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/linh-son-diem-du-lich-trai-nghiem-hap-dan-254106.htm