(VOVWORLD) - On Wednesday, the provincial Department of Science and Technology launched a pilot tour to explore the culture of the Tho ethnic minority group, who live only in Nghia Dan district of Nghe An province.
 A group of tourists visiting TH True Milk dairy factory in Nghia Dan district. (Photo: Lan Phuong/VOV) |
The tour is one of Nghe An's community tourism services being developed recently. Nguyen Quy Linh, Director of the provincial Department of Science and Technology, said: “Our survey team, together with tourism companies, agencies, and authorities are piloting several tours in Nghia Dan district by making use of the district’s beautiful landscapes and local cultural and ethnicity, thereby obtaining a clear overview and coming up with solutions for future plans”.
The first stop of the tour is the TH True Milk dairy factory, where tourists can learn about the company’s closed processing and packaging of dairy products, with one of the most high-tech end systems in Asia.
 Cows at the TH True Milk factory (Photo: Lan Phuong/VOV) |
Tourists can also experience Dinh Tam fruit farm with a wide variety of fresh and ripe edible fruits, including orange, pomelo, and guava. In the afternoon, there is a tour of high-tech agricultural cooperatives (Cooperative 1.5).
 Tourists enjoy fruits at the Dinh Tam fruit farm. (Photo: Lan Phuong/VOV) |
 Tourists take a commemorative photo in Dinh Tam fruit farm. (Lan Phuong/VOV) |
Parts of the tour include a visit to the hundred-year-old Lung Thuong village of the Tho ethnic minority group, which was developed to become a model commune by Nghia Dan district. Tourists are introduced to the village’s development plan and the preservation of its cultural values.
 Tourists visit an orange garden of Cooperative 1.5. (Photo: Lan Phuong/VOV) |
 Tourists visit an orange garden of Cooperative 1.5. (Photo: Lan Phuong/VOV) |
Vi Thi Tham, a tourist, said: “I have had experience with the culture of the Thai and Mong in other regions. But my experience with the culture of the Tho in Lung village, Nghia Dan district has been unique, and impressive, from the singing to greet us, drinking Nghe An's green tea (chè đâm), to enjoying the local Tho ethnic minority’s black rice cake. The tour can be very attractive if we can combine it with other tourism products”
The tour closes out with art performances, call-and-response singing, and camp fire.
 An art performance by Tho ethnic people is held to welcome tourists. (Photo: Lan Phuong/VOV) |