Paragliding festival kicks off cultural week of Mu Cang Chai Terraced Rice Fields

Paragliding festival kicks off cultural week of Mu Cang Chai Terraced Rice Fields

The Hanoitimes – The paragliding festival, themed “Flying over ripening rice fields”, opened a culture and tourism week held at Khau Pha pass in Mu Cang Chai district, the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai on September 18.

The Culture-Tourism Week of Mu Cang Chai Terraced Rice Fields 2016 was launched with a ceremony in the northern mountainous province of Yen Bai on September 18.

At the opening ceremony of the cultural week.

The highlight of this year’s cultural-tourism week is the paragliding festival with the participation of nearly 100 paragliders from seven domestic and foreign clubs.
The paragliding festival has been held by Mu Cang Chai district in conjunction with the Vietwings Hanoi Parachuting Club and the Northern Aviation Club since 2012.

Illustrative image.

Khau Pha, about 1,200 metres above sea level, provides a breathtaking view of stunning natural scenery. It is rated as one of the four most beautiful paragliding sites in Vietnam and among the top five most beautiful flying spots in the world.
The Culture-Tourism Week of Mu Cang Chai Terraced Rice Fields 2016 that is being organised from September 16-20, aims to honour the national landscape of Mu Cang Chai terraced fields and local ethnic groups’ cultural values, as well as promote tourism development in the locality.
At the ceremony, about 300 ethnic H’Mong artists performed music featuring the “khen”, a traditional bamboo instrument.

The week will take place many activities, including a paragliding festival, goat fighting, local sports and traditional products.
Mu Cang Chai has 500 hectares of rice terraces in La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu Phinh communes, cultivated by the H’mong people for centuries. The local terraces are among the 2,500 hectares recognised as national heritage sites in 2007 by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The locality is about 1,000 metres above sea level, making it impossible to grow rice the same way as in deltas. Local residents grow rice in terraced fields to prevent water flowing downhill.
Terraced fields in Mu Cang Chai are beautiful all year round. Visitors in March can see glittering ponds before locals transplant rice seedlings from April to May. After May, the hills are covered in green until the fields start to turn yellow with ripe rice in early September.
During the harvest in October, the golden rice fields stand out amidst green forests.

Thu Minh

Paragliding festival kicks off cultural week of Mu Cang Chai Terraced Rice Fields Related image(s)