Bai Choi is not only found in Hoi An.

For thousands of years, the art of Bài Chòi has been a folk performing art that has been very familiar to the people of many Central provinces such as Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam , Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan...

Nam Thinh

Usually, every time Tet comes, people in the above provinces gather to "play" bai choi. It is called bai choi because this type of game involves building a hut, singing, acting, performing, and even giving prizes to lucky viewers. Because bai choi is an art that expresses the soul of the Central region, in 2014 UNESCO selected and honored the art of bai choi in the Central region as the 12th intangible cultural heritage of Vietnam. It is also an honor to the people of Central Vietnam, who are full of wit, creativity and love for poetry, because bai choi is a comprehensive art form with high creativity and entertainment.

Strangely, when I had the opportunity to listen to Quang Ngai monks recite sutras, which can be called "singing sutras", I could hear in their singing a tone of the Bai Choi tune.

Thus, the art of Bài Chòi was perhaps most prosperous during the time of Trần Quốc Công Bùi Tá Hán (first half of the 16th century) who led the Vietnamese and the indigenous people to explore and modernize the Central region. Bài Chòi may have followed the footsteps of Vietnamese soldiers and immigrants to settle in this region, but its audience included both Vietnamese and Cham people. This can be considered a form of performing art that is deeply Vietnamese, but was tested and survived right in the land where the art of the Cham people initially held an important position.

The reason why the art of Bài Chòi has a firm foothold in the Vietnamese-Cham community lies in its naturalness and democracy. Its pervasiveness and persuasiveness lies in its non-discrimination, its equality with all players and listeners. Tuong hát bội was initially performed only in the royal court or in the houses of high-ranking officials, for a select audience. Later, it was directed to serve the people. As for Bài Chòi, from the beginning its target audience was soldiers, civilians, and anyone who enjoyed the game, without distinction. For Vietnamese agricultural residents, spring is the season of festivals, the season of sublimation and democratic spirit. It is also the season of Bài Chòi.

Nam Thinh

Therefore, Bai Choi is not only found in Hoi An (Quang Nam), but also exists and develops in many provinces in the Central region. However, it must be said that for many years, Hoi An has been a place to play Bai Choi continuously serving tourists every night, every week, and recently, successfully brought Bai Choi abroad, specifically to Japan. While many other provinces in the Central region also have Bai Choi specialties, they have not yet fully promoted this unique folk art to serve cultural tourism.

Nguyen Tu

Through the practice of Bai Choi serving tourists to Hoi An, we see that this type of performing art is very popular with foreigners. Therefore, if provinces near Hoi An such as Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh promote the art of Bai Choi to serve tourists and domestic visitors, it will certainly attract visitors and be loved. As visitors to Hoi An love Bai Choi.