From terraced fields to green tourism dreams

Khe Tau terraced fields in flood season.

From the center of Phong Du Thuong commune, we traveled nearly ten kilometers of concrete road winding along streams, rice fields, forests, and cinnamon hills to Khe Tau. Leading the way was Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huong, a cultural officer of the commune and also in charge of the village. Because she often comes to Khe Tau, skillfully driving a motorbike through sharp turns and steep slopes is very normal for Ms. Huong. While driving, she introduced: The climate here is cool all year round, especially during the rice harvest season, combined with the beautiful terraced fields, Khe Tau is becoming an attractive destination for many tourists.

Khe Tau is aiming to build a green tourism brand.

Knowing that we were going on a business trip, Village Chief Lu A Chang and a few people along with Win motorbikes were waiting. Mr. Chang smiled and said: The road to the terraced fields is about to be concreted so it will be very difficult to travel, so you guys come with us on this part!

Just as A Chang said, due to the influence of the rain the day before, the steep road, which was already difficult to travel on, became even more difficult. The Win motorbikes had to accelerate to the maximum, and at times the wheels spun in place. I sat behind, hugging the back of the "mountain racer"'s steering wheel, sweating. When I reached the top, I looked at the rice fields running around the hill like a giant raspberry, not unlike the terraced fields of Mu Cang Chai.

Standing on the high mountain, taking a deep breath of fresh air, looking out at the entire landscape of Phong Du Thuong commune and some neighboring communes of the old Van Chan district, amidst the mountains and forests, the vast space, the feeling of being at one with nature, all my fatigue suddenly disappeared, the journey I had just gone through was worth it!

Through the story of the village chief Lu A Chang, I learned that more than a dozen households of Nam Co commune, Mu Cang Chai district (old), seeing the spacious land here, migrated to reclaim the land since 1997, Khe Tau was formed with a natural area of 528 hectares.

People actively reclaim and expand the area of terraced fields.

In the early years, due to lack of water resources, people only focused on clearing forests for farming, the rice fields were only small, fragmented, patchwork plots. Over time, with the State's investment in irrigation canal systems, people accelerated reclamation, the rice field area in the village increased rapidly to 36 hectares, of which the rice field area on the raspberry hill was 26 hectares.

According to village chief Lu A Chang, people are now familiar with the crop schedule, giving up the habit of saving seeds for the next crop and proactively buying new rice seeds for cultivation, so the annual rice yield reaches 5.2 tons/ha.

Following the rice fields that were in the stage of ripening, promising a bountiful harvest, we met Mr. Trang A Sua visiting the fields.

Mr. Sua shared: His family has 7 sao of rice fields. Thanks to the stable water source, they can grow two crops a year, each crop yields over 2 tons of rice, not only providing enough food and livestock, but also selling some of it when needed to get money to cover living expenses.

The golden harvest seasons bring prosperity to the people of Khe Tau.

The terraced fields have provided a guaranteed food source for 453 Khe Tau residents, plus income from 30 hectares of cinnamon, 26 hectares of corn, 2 hectares of vegetable and livestock farming, forest protection... many households have "food and property". According to the investigation, out of a total of 96 households in Khe Tau, the majority have an average or good life, in the village there are only 19 poor households.

The beauty of Khe Tau terraced fields in the middle of the vast mountains and forests has attracted the attention of many tourists, especially photographers, including photographer Nguyen Thanh Mien - one of the first people to actively bring the beauty of Khe Tau terraced fields to the media and social networks to spread.

“Like many people, I was surprised by the beauty of the terraced fields system when I came to Khe Tau!” Mr. Mien shared.

Faced with the tourism potential of Khe Tau, in 2023, Phong Du Thuong commune built a project "Khe Tau terraced field community eco-tourism site associated with the eco-tourism sites - community of Phong Du Thuong commune".

Chairman of Phong Du Thuong Commune People's Committee Luong Van Thu said: When developing the project, Khe Tau villagers strongly supported the policy of developing eco-tourism - community associated with the terraced fields landscape here.

Villagers participate in making irrigation canals.

With the State's investment in building roads, national power grid, mobile phone coverage, internet... the Mong people of Khe Tau village have actively participated in building a tourist village.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huong shared more: people actively donated land and contributed their efforts to harden the road so that motorbikes could easily get from the commune to the village; participated in building 3 km of irrigation works to serve irrigation; embellished and repaired the terraced fields to make them beautiful, turning the hillsides into soft, beautiful rice fields; actively protected over 200 hectares of natural forest...

At the same time, every household has promoted the production of highland products such as black chicken and local pigs; renovated houses, livestock barns, and toilets; and actively participated in the movement to build a cultural life launched by the commune and village.

Sharing about the goal of developing green tourism in Khe Tau, Chairman of Phong Du Ha Commune People's Committee Luong Van Thu said: Tourism has helped change the face of the highlands. The attraction of Khe Tau has contributed to attracting over 6,000 tourists to Phong Du Thuong in the past term, with tourism revenue reaching over 9 billion VND.

The Resolution of the 1st Lao Cai Provincial Party Congress, term 2025 - 2030, continues to set the goal of making the province develop green, harmoniously, with identity and happiness. Phong Du Thuong Commune also sets the goal in the new term to promote tourism development, with the number of tourists coming to the commune reaching 17,000 people. Therefore, building Khe Tau as a green tourist destination is really the right direction!

To make that goal come true soon, according to Chairman of Phong Du Ha Commune People's Committee Luong Van Thu, there is still a lot to do, the most important of which is to build infrastructure to connect to the commune's tourist attractions, such as Ngoi Hut hydroelectric lake, Khe Ban waterfall, Khe Mang, hot spring. At the same time, continue to promote propaganda, train skills, raise awareness and knowledge so that people can join hands to promote the locality's strengths in tourism development.

People actively reinforce the road to the terraced fields.

Green tourism is not only a story of economic development, but also a journey to preserve identity, improve spiritual life and connect people with nature. With existing potential strengths, combined with the initiative and high political determination of the Party Committee, government, and mass organizations of Phong Du Thuong commune and the people of Khe Tau village, the goal of developing green tourism will quickly become a reality.

Source: https://baolaocai.vn/tu-ruong-bac-thang-den-giac-mo-du-lich-xanh-post883606.html