(VOVworld) – Viet Hai fishing village, a special destination on the tourist island of Cat Ba, is famous for the typical characters seen during local daily activities. The seventy six households there have a habit of opening their doors throughout the day because nobody steals furniture and Viet Hai’s residents are honest and always help each other. For this year’s Tet, villagers are expected to welcome more tourists who want to visit and experience the peaceful life of the island commune of Viet Hai.

Most of visitors to Viet Hai village are foreigners. (Photo: Hoang Thai)

The traditional lunar New Year, or Tet, in Viet Hai village is different to that in other northern provinces. There are only 300 people inhabiting simple houses in the island valley, which is the core area of Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve. It’s neither noisy nor has a festive atmosphere. Tet is a quiet time with echoes of wooden tocsins to pray for a peaceful life by the monks. In order to visit Viet Hai village, visitors must first take a boat to cruise Lan Ha Bay, and then go by road an additional 10 km, or choose to walk for up to 5 hours, through Cat Ba National Park. Despite the difficulties in traveling, the remote village is strangely attractive to foreign visitors. John, a British tourist, says “We live in the country but everything is different to my homeland in the UK. The time we crossed Lan Ha Bay by yesterday, it was magnificent. I mean the scenery, the mountains, the peace, and the quiet. And we’d love to come back as we want to explore more”.

Accompanying John are his wife and children. Anna says they learned about Viet Hai via a website

promoting Vietnamese tourism in the UK. She notes she is happy and is it interested in the local scenery, especially during the festive atmosphere to receive Tet among the Viet Hai villagers. She adds: “we flew from Ho Chi Minh City to Hai Phong yesterday. We want to come and see your beautiful country and we’ve heard the people are very lovely and the food is very good. But it costs a lot of money from England to Vietnam. We come at the time when Vietnamese people are to receive the traditional Tet thus we have more experiences on your customs and know the way people in Viet Hai prepare for Tet. We would love to come to Vietnam again and also to Viet Hai”.

Situated at the heart of the tourist island of Cat Ba, the Viet Hai people have become busier welcoming visitors whenever Tet comes. Some tourists decide to stay overnight in tents in the village for the experience. Nguyen Thi Ha, a local resident, says her family offer tourist services on top of their farming work. She notes: “during the Tet holiday, if there are visitors, we’ll invite them to taste traditional dishes including Chung cakes and Vietnamese jams. We also introduce them to Vietnamese customs during Tet. We began to offer the service a couple of years ago. Visitors are often glad to learn more about the daily life of Vietnamese people including those in Viet Hai village.”

To help the Viet Hai people and residents in Cat Hai island district in general to both maintain the Viet people’s cultural identities and develop their economy, the provincial authorities have attached great importance to communications for the owners of restaurants, hotels, and the locals. Bui Trung Nghia, Chairman of the Cat Hai People’s Committee in Hai Phong city, says: “since this year, the owners of restaurants and hotels have organized tours to help foreign tourists to learn about the traditional customs during Tet of the Vietnamese nation and the typical identities of our islanders. We have also held tours for visitors to experience Tet meals such as the New Year’s Eve party. Travel agents and local inhabitants have made careful preparations to welcome tourists to enjoy the local Tet holiday.”

Learning the life and scenery of Viet Hai village is an interesting experience for foreigners who visit Cat Hai island district. The wildness of the nature and the sincerity of the locals are something that stay with travellers.